Attendance Policy

• Philosophy
• Policy
• Expectations for Good Attendance
• Absences
• Excused Absences
• Unexcused Absences
• Responsibility for Good Attendance
• Parent/Guardian Responsibilities
• Student Responsibilities
• Teacher/Staff Responsibilities
• Student Attendance Record Keeping /Data Collection
• Notice of Students who are Absent, Tardy or Depart Early Without Proper Excuse
• Junior/Senior High School
• Notice of Minimum Attendance Standard/Intervention Strategies to the Denial of Course Credit
• Appeals Process
• Disciplinary Consequences
• Intervention Strategy Process
• Building Review of Attendance Records

Philosophy

The Board of Education, in accordance with Section 104.1 (c) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, establishes this comprehensive attendance policy.  The objectives of this policy are to ensure the maintenance of an adequate record verifying the attendance of all children, to establish a mechanism to examine patterns of pupil absence and to develop effective intervention strategies to improve school attendance.

Policy

The Board, administration and staff of the district recognize that regular classroom attendance is an essential part of a successful educational program and that there is a critical relationship between academically engaged time and student performance.

Expectations for Good Attendance

Students are expected to attend scheduled classes.  The insistence on good attendance serves as a clear and constant reminder of the importance of attendance in instruction, enabling the student to:

1. Learn subject matter and earn good grades
2. Develop responsible work and study habits, and
3. Prepare for the world of work

Under New York State Education Law Section 3205, parents are responsible for the regular attendance of their children for instruction. 

Absences

Excused Absences

Section 175.6 of the Commissioner’s regulations define the following as “excused absences:”  personal illness, serious illness or death in the family, impassable roads or weather, religious observance, quarantine, court appearances, attendance at health clinics, approved cooperative work programs, approved college visits, military obligations, disciplinary detention of an incarcerated youth or any other reason approved by the Commissioner.

All instances of excused absence require a written parent/guardian excuse. The excuse must identify the date/time of absence, reason for absence, tardiness or early departure and parent/guardian signature. Students failing to present an excuse prior to an early departure or upon reporting back to school following an absence or tardiness will be subject to a warning. Subsequent offenses will resort in progressive discipline and/or Department of Social Services contact. 

Unexcused Absences

Most absences not mentioned above are interpreted under the law as “unexcused absences” including but not limited to vacation, shopping, baby-sitting, oversleeping, needed at home, or missing the bus.  Any reason not listed as excused shall be deemed unexcused unless the Building Principal determines otherwise.  The two categories of unexcused absence are: 

1. Unlawful Detention: Unlawful detention occurs when the pupil is absent with the knowledge and consent of his/her parent/guardian for other than an excused absence.
2. Truancy:  A student who is absent from school without the consent of a parent/guardian is considered to be truant. 

Responsibility for Good Attendance

Successful implementation of this policy requires cooperation among all members of the educational community, including parents, students, teachers, administrators and all staff members.

Parent/Guardian Responsibilities

1. It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to ensure that their children attend school regularly and on time.
2. When a student is absent from school, it is the responsibility of the parents/guardians to contact the school to report the absence and/or provide appropriate excuses when required (doctor’s verification).
3. Parents/Guardians must provide a written explanation of the absence for their child to be turned into their homeroom/first period teacher upon the student’s return to school.
4. Parents are required to provide their current home address, telephone number, emergency number(s) and a list of adults to contact in their absence. 

Student Responsibilities

1. Students must attend school daily and be on time.
2. Students must attend all classes and are expected to participate fully.
3. Students are expected to make timely arrangements with their teachers to make up assignments and class work they have missed during their absence.
4. It is the responsibility of the student to give to the Building Principal/Attendance Officer a written excuse signed by the parent/guardian within 48 hours of the student’s return to school.  If a written excuse is not submitted, the absence will be recorded as unexcused.
5. Written excuses are required for tardies and early departures. A student must provide the Building Principal/Attendance Officer with a written excuse signed by the parent/guardian upon entering school tardy. In the event of an early departure, the excuse must be submitted to the Attendance Officer before homeroom. If the tardiness or early departure is due to an excusable appointment, written verification from the office of the appointment is required upon return to school, or the absence will be recorded as unexcused. 

Teacher/Staff Responsibilities

1. Teachers are responsible for maintaining accurate attendance reports and for referring chronic absentees for review by the Building Principal or Designee. 
2. School office staff shall be responsible for preliminary contact with parents and students to assess a situation of absenteeism and devise a plan of improvement. 
3. Teachers and school personnel will continually stress to students the importance of promptness and regular attendance in all of their classes. Teachers can make a difference in the attendance habits of their students.(Phone calls to parents or guardians are encouraged). 

Student Attendance Record Keeping /Data Collection

The record of each student’s presence, absence, tardiness and early departure shall be kept in a register of attendance in a manner consistent with Commissioner’s Regulations. An absence, tardiness or early departure will be entered as “excused” or “unexcused” along with the District code for the reason.

Attendance shall be taken and recorded in accordance with the following:

1. For students in grades six through twelve or in departmentalized schools at any grade level (i.e., students pass individually to different classes throughout the day), each student’s presence or absence shall be recorded by the teacher for each period of scheduled instruction except that where students do not change classrooms for each period of scheduled instruction, attendance shall be taken in accordance with paragraph “a” above.
2. Any absence for a school day or portion thereof shall be recorded as excused or unexcused in accordance with the standards articulated in this policy.
3. In the event that a student at any instructional level from kindergarten through grade twelve arrives late for or departs early from scheduled instruction, such tardiness or early departure shall be recorded as excused or unexcused in accordance with the standards articulated in this policy.

A record shall be kept of each scheduled day of instruction during which the school is closed for all or part of the day because of extraordinary circumstances including adverse weather conditions, impairment of heating facilities, insufficiency of water supply, shortage of fuel, destruction of or damage to a school building, or such other cause as may be found satisfactory to the Commissioner of Education.

Attendance records shall also indicate the date when a student withdraws from enrollment or is dropped from enrollment in accordance with Education Law Section 3202(1-a).

At the conclusion of each class period or school day, all attendance information shall be compiled and provided to the attendance officer who is responsible for attendance. The nature of the absence, tardiness or early departure shall be coded on a student’s record in accordance with the established district/building procedures.

Notice of Students who are Absent, Tardy or Depart Early Without Proper Excuse

The attendance officer shall attempt to notify by telephone on the same day the parent/person in parental relation to a student who is absent, tardy or departs early without proper excuse. The staff member shall explain the District’s Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy, the district’s/building level intervention procedures, and, if appropriate, the relationship between student attendance and course credit. If the parent/person in parental relation cannot be reached by telephone, the attendance officer will provide such notification by mail.

Junior/Senior High School

At the beginning of the junior/senior high school level, any student with an absent rate of 10% or more for a single course of study, may be denied credit.

This standard translates as follows in alternate day, blocked class:

• Full year or 1-credit courses: 10 absences
• Semester or ½-credit courses: 5 absences
• ¼-credit courses: 3 absences

For classes that meet daily, these standards would be doubled. 

However, students with properly excused absences, tardiness and early departures for which the student has satisfactorily performed assigned make-up work, assignments and/or tests shall not be counted as an absence, tardiness, early departure for the purpose of determining the student’s eligibility for course credit. 

Unexcused tardies are subject to disciplinary action.

Summer school students are subject to the summer school attendance policy.

Transfer students and students and students re-enrolling after having dropped out will be expected to attend a pro-rated minimum number of the scheduled class meetings during their time of enrollment. 

Students will be considered in attendance if the student is: 

1. Physically present in the classroom or working under the direction of the classroom teacher during the class scheduled meeting time: or
2. Working pursuant to an approved independent study program; or 
3. Receiving alternative instruction.

Students who are absent from class due to their participation in a school sponsored activity are to arrange with their teachers to make up work missed in each class and within one cycle (A-D day rotation) of the absence. Attendance at school sponsored events where instruction is substantially equivalent to the instruction which was missed shall be counted at the equivalent of regular attendance in class. 

Upon returning to school following an absence, tardiness or early departure, it shall be the responsibility of the student to consult with their teacher(s) to make arrangements and to be given the opportunity to make up missed work, assignments or tests within one cycle (A-D day rotation) of each absence. 

Notice of Minimum Attendance Standard/Intervention Strategies to the Denial of Course Credit

In order to ensure that parents/persons in parental relation and students are informed of the District’s policy regarding minimum attendance and course credit, and implementation of specific intervention strategies to be employed prior to the denial of course credit to the student for insufficient attendance, the following guidelines shall be followed:

Copies of the District’s Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy will be mailed to parents/persons in parental relation and provided to students at the beginning of each school year or at the time of enrollment in the District.

1. Copies of the District’s Comprehensive Students Attendance Policy will be mailed to parents/persons in parental relation and provided to students at the beginning of each school year or at the time of enrollment in the District.
2. School newsletters and publications will include periodic reminders of the components of the District’s Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy. Copies of the Attendance Policy will also be included in parent/student handbooks.
3. The Attendance Officer will issue a verbal notification to a student and their parent/persons in parental relation at the first unexcused absence.
4. When a student has the third unexcused absence of a full-year course, the second in a half-year course, the first in a quarter-year course, a written notification will be issued to both the student and parent/persons in parental relation, with a copy of the letter forwarded to the appropriate guidance counselor. The Attendance Officer will determine strategies to improve class attendance. Strategies may include, but are not limited to, individual counseling sessions with the school social worker, peer counseling groups, Child Study referral, and student intervention programs. When a student has a sixth unexcused absence of a full-year course, the third in a half-year course, the second in a quarter-year course, the verbal and written notification will be issued by the principal. A building administrator will meet with the student (and parent/persons in parental relation if deemed appropriate to the circumstance) to review reasons for the unexcused absences and to implement strategies to improve class attendance. 
5. When a student meets or exceeds the maximum allowable absences in any given course, a student may be denied course credit. The student and parent/guardian be informed of this verbally and with a letter from the Attendance Officer.

In order to receive course credit at this stage, the student must fulfill participation requirements and demonstrate competency according to course standards and guidelines. These expectations must be outlined in a contract established between the student and teacher, and witnessed by the building principal. Copies of this contract will be provided to the parent/guardian and the guidance counselor.

1. The grades for any agreed upon additional assignments shall be averaged with the student’s other grades for the quarter in the course to determine the student’s quarter grade. 
2. Failure to satisfactorily fulfill the contract results in failure to complete the course requirements, and therefore denial of credit. Any additional unexcused absences will void the contract and result in denial of course credit. 
3.  If the student wishes to be eligible to take the course in Summer School, the student must attend that course for the duration of the school year, according no more unexcused absences.

Appeals Process

If a student faces the denial of course credit due to excessive absences, the student or parent/person in parental relation may appeal the denial of course credit to an Attendance Review Committee by notifying the building principal in writing within two school days of being denied credit. The school will convene this committee within two school days of receipt of this letter requesting an appeal. 

This committee will be composed of the principal or designee, the attendance officer, two impartial teachers and the school social worker. Both the student and teacher are entitled to address the committee. The principal or designee will inform the student and/or parent/person in parental relation within two school days of the outcome of the appeal.

All decisions made under this appeals process may be appealed to the superintendent and Board of Education in order of succession within two school days of notification of decision. 

Disciplinary Consequences

Unexcused absences, tardiness and early departures will result in disciplinary sanctions as described in the District’s Code of Conduct. Consequences may include, but are not limited to, in-school suspension, detention and denial of participation in interscholastic and extracurricular activities. Parents/ persons in parental relation will be notified by designated district personnel at periodic intervals to discuss their child’s absences, tardiness or early departures and the importance of class attendance and appropriate interventions. Individual buildings/grade levels will address procedures to implement the notification process to the parent/person in parental relation.

Intervention Strategy Process

In order to effectively intervene when an identified pattern of unexcused absences, tardiness or early departures occur, designated District personnel will pursue the following:

1. Identify specific pattern of unexcused absences, tardiness or early departures;
2. Discuss strategies to directly intervene with specific pattern(s);
3. Utilize appropriate District and/or community resources which may include but not be limited to: individual counseling session with school staff, peer counseling groups, child study referral, SIP referral, PINS to address and help remedy student unexcused absences, tardiness or early departures;
4. Implement changes, as approved by appropriate administration;
5. Monitor and report short and long term effects of intervention.

Building Review of Attendance Records

The person identified as having responsibility for reviewing attendance records will be the building principal. The person responsible for initiating appropriate action to address unexcused pupil attendance according to the LEA’s comprehensive attendance policy will be the building principal or designee.