Guidelines for Attendance
The Education Improvement Act of 1984 makes regular school attendance compulsory for all children, ages 5 to 16, inclusive.

The law requires that school officials immediately intervene when a student has 3 consecutive unlawful absences or 5 total unlawful absences.

What are Excused Absences?

1) Absences due to illness accompanied by a doctor’s note.

2) Absences due to illness accompanied by a parent’s note. Each student is allowed up to five parent notes per school year. Parent notes can only be used for sickness of student, sickness of parent/guardian not allowing transportation of student to school or family emergencies.

***Parent notes CAN NOT be used for vacations, birthday celebrations or day trips out of town.

3) Absences due to death in immediate family. Must be accompanied by a copy of the obituary to be considered a bereavement day. Limited to 3 days.If there is no obituary or funeral program provided, then the absence will be considered unexcused.

4) Absences due to illness, suspension, or any other reason that causes the child to be sent home early by school personnel.

 What are Unexcused/Unlawful Absences?

1) Absences not accompanied by a doctor’s note.

2) Absences not accompanied by a parent’s note (limit 5 per year).

3) Absences from school without the knowledge of parents/guardians.

4) Absences due to missing the bus or not having transportation to school.

5) Absences due to vacation, birthday celebrations or family reunions.

 
Very Important: A truancy conference will be required if there are 3 or more consecutive unexcused absences or 5 or more total unexcused absences. This will require a parent or legal guardian to meet with a team of school officials to set up an Intervention Plan to improve attendance.