Attendance Policy

Students are expected to be in school every day, all day.  Regular attendance enables students to benefit from classroom discussions, presentations, and interactive activities.  

Any student arriving after 7:50am must be signed in through the school office.  Students will not be allowed to sign themselves in.  Students arriving after 7:50am be counted as tardy.  Perfect Attendance is based on absolute perfect attendance—no absences, tardies, or check-outs (leaving before 11:20am is an absence).

Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, excuse notes from any walk-in clinic, telehealth service, or ER visits will be limited to ten (10) excuses per year. Further excuses for illness will require an excuse from the doctor’s office or that of a specialist physician treating the student. 

Each student is allowed five (5) parent notes per school year. The parent will excuse the student for any reason.

School nurses are authorized to assess any student for symptoms of an acute illness. The nurse can excuse the student only for the day the nurse determines the student should be sent home. 

Important Reminder! All excuse notes from any health care provider must be submitted within three days upon return to school. A school excuse is part of the visit and is treated just like a prescription. It is the responsibility of the parent to ask the health care provider for an excuse note. Notes submitted beyond the three-day period will not be accepted and the absence will remain unexcused. 

For students in grades K-5, all excuse notes are to be submitted to the classroom teacher only.

If your student suffers from a chronic illness requiring the student to miss school periodically, each school nurse has the “Chronic Illness Verification Form”. The school nurse will coordinate the process with the parent. These circumstances are very rare and the form must be completed by a physician.

Tardies require the same documentation as absences to be excused. Five (5) unexcused tardies of 45 minutes or unexcused early checkouts of 45 minutes or greater will be equivalent to one unexcused absence and will be applied accordingly under the progressive truancy plan. 

If a student has an appointment during the school day, it is expected that a student will attend school up to the appointment time and/or return to school after the appointment. 

Under ESSA: Every Student Succeeds Act, public schools are required to document chronic absenteeism and take mandated steps to ensure students are present to receive an educational experience. Accrued absences could result in a truancy board referral or summons to court. We strongly discourage family vacations when school is in session.  In addition to compromising the attendance law, family vacations interrupt the educational process in ways that make-up work cannot reverse. Parents and/or guardians can see all attendance information through ParentVUE. If there are any discrepancies, please contact the office.