BoardDocs® Policy: po5200 ATTENDANCE
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5200 - ATTENDANCE

 

The educational program offered by this District is predicated upon the presence of the student and requires continuity of instruction and classroom participation. Attendance shall be required of all students enrolled in the schools during the days and hours that the school is in session or during the attendance sessions to which s/he has been assigned.

 

A student in grades 9 through 12 may be considered a full-time equivalent student provided the student is enrolled in at least five (5) units of instruction, as defined by State law, per school year.

 

In accordance with statute, the Superintendent shall require, from the parent of each student of compulsory school age or from an adult student who has been absent from school or from class for any reason, a written statement of the cause for such absence. The Board of Education reserves the right to verify such statements and to investigate the cause of each single absence or prolonged absence.

 

The Board considers the following factors to be reasonable excuses for time missed at school:

 

  1. personal illness (a written physician’s statement verifying the illness may be required)

     

  2. illness in the family necessitating the presence of the child

     

  3. quarantine of the home

     

  4. death in the family

     

  5. necessary work at home due to the absence or incapacity of parent(s)/guardian(s)

     

  6. observation or celebration of a bona fide religious holiday

     

  7. out-of-state travel (up to a maximum twenty-four (24) hours per school year that the student’s school is open for instruction) to participate in a District-approved enrichment or extracurricular activity

     

    Any classroom assignment missed due to the absence shall be completed by the student.

     

  8. such good cause as may be acceptable to the Superintendent

     

  9. medically necessary leave for a pregnant student in accordance with Policy 5751
     

  10. service as a precinct officer at a primary, special or general election in accordance with the program set forth in Policy 5725 

 

Attendance need not always be within the school facilities, but a student will be considered to be in attendance if present at any place where school is in session by authority of the Board.

 

The Board shall consider each student assigned to a program of other guided learning experiences to be in regular attendance for the program provided that s/he reports to such staff member s/he is assigned for guidance at the place in which s/he is conducting study and regularly demonstrates progress toward the objectives of the course of study.

 

The Superintendent may excuse a student over fourteen (14) years of age from attendance at school for a future limited period for the purpose of performing essential work directly or exclusively for his/her parents or guardians. Such excuse should not exceed five (5) days and may at the discretion of the Superintendent be renewed for five (5) additional days. At no time, however, shall such excuse cause a student to be absent from school for a period of more than ten (10) consecutive days.

 

At the discretion of the Superintendent, a student may be excused for a longer period of time than ten (10) days if a child's parent or guardian has recently died or become totally or partially incapacitated and there is no older brother or sister living in the home who is out of school. (The Superintendent may request a certificate of a physician attesting to the physical condition of the parent or guardian.)

 

Student Vacations During the School Year

 

The Board recognizes that protracted or frequent absences from school interfere with the educational program afforded students.

 

Vacations are discouraged during the school year. However, in some cases, family vacations may occur during the school year. In this case, advanced requests to have an absence excused must be submitted five (5) school days prior to the vacation. Excused vacation days may not exceed five (5) school days during the school year. Students will be obligated to complete assignments to ensure no interruption in education upon their return.

 

To accommodate student absences for vacations during the regular school year while ensuring an effective educational program, the following regulations are established:

 

  1. Parents of students under eighteen (18) years of age, as well as students eighteen (18) years of age or older, must submit a written request to the building Principal, a minimum of five (5) days in advance of the scheduled vacation indicating the following:
     
    1. date of departure and return
       
    2. destination
       
    3. parent's signature indicating approval for students under eighteen (18) years of age, reflecting that the parent(s) will accompany the student
       
  2. The building Principal may approve vacation requests under the following provisions:
    1. All above cited requirements are fulfilled
       
    2. Excused vacation days may not exceed five (5) school days during the school year
  3. The student assumes full responsibility for obtaining and completing all assignments and materials covered during this absence
     
  4. Teachers are not expected to tutor students for work missed during planned absences.
     
  5. After the excused vacation period, the allotted time for make-up work will be equal to the number of days absent.

 

Attendance shall be taken at the commencement of the school day in buildings with non-period-based schedules.  Attendance for students arriving late or leaving early must be tracked and recorded to the nearest full hour.

 

Excessive Absences

 

When a student of compulsory school age is absent from school with or without legitimate excuse for thirty-eight (38) or more hours in one school month, or sixty-five (65) or more hours in a school year, the attendance officer shall notify the child's parent or guardian of the child's absences, in writing, within seven (7) school days after the date of the absence that triggered the notice requirement.  At the same time written notice is given, any appropriate intervention action listed herein may be taken.

 

A student will be considered habitually truant if the student is of compulsory school age and absent without a legitimate excuse for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours, for forty-two (42) or more hours in one (1) school month, or for seventy-two (72) or more hours in one (1) school year.

 

Legitimate excuses for the absence of a student who is otherwise habitually truant include but are not limited to:

 

  1. the student was enrolled in another school district;

     

  2. the student was excused from attendance in accordance with R.C. 3321.04; or

     

  3. the student has received an age and schooling certificate.

 

Absence Intervention Team

 

To the extent required by law as determined on an annual basis, within ten (10) days of a student becoming habitually truant, the Superintendent shall assign the student to an absence intervention team.

 

Within fourteen (14) school days after the assignment of a student to an absence intervention team, the team shall develop an intervention plan for that student in an effort to reduce or eliminate further absences.  Each intervention plan shall vary based on the individual needs of the student, but the plan shall state that the attendance officer shall file a complaint not later than sixty-one (61) days after the date the plan was implemented, if the child has refused to participate in, or failed to make satisfactory progress on, the intervention plan.  Within seven (7) school days after the development of the plan, reasonable efforts shall be made to provide the student's parent/guardian/custodian, with written notice of the plan.

 

Each absence intervention team may vary based on the needs of each individual student but shall include a representative from the child's building, another representative from the child's building who knows the child, and the child's parent or parent's designee, or the child's guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian.  The team also may include a school psychologist, counselor, social worker, or representative of a public or nonprofit agency designed to assist students and their families in reducing absences.

 

The members of the absence intervention team shall be selected within seven (7) school days of the student meeting the habitually truant threshold.  Within the same period of seven (7) school days, the Principal shall make at least three (3) meaningful, good faith attempts to secure the participation of the student's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian on that team.  A good faith attempt to secure the participation of the parent shall include, but not be limited to, contacting (or attempting to contact) the parent by telephone, email, or regular mail.  If the student's parent responds to any of those attempts, but is unable to participate for any reason, the Principal shall inform the parent of the parent's right to appear by the designee.  If seven (7) school days elapse and the student's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian fails to respond to the attempts to secure participation, the attendance officer shall investigate whether the failure to respond triggers mandatory abuse or neglect reporting to the public children services agency.  At the same time, the absence intervention team shall continue to develop an intervention plan for the child notwithstanding the absence of the child's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian.

 

Intervention Strategies

 

In order to address the attendance practices of a student who is habitually truant, the intervention team may, as part of an intervention plan, take any of the following intervention actions:

 

  1. provide counseling to the student

     

  2. request or require the student’s parent to attend a parental involvement program

     

  3. request or require a parent to attend a truancy prevention mediation program

     

  4. notify the Registrar of Motor Vehicles of the student’s absences

     

  5. take appropriate legal action

 

In the event that a student becomes habitually truant within twenty-one (21) school days prior to the last day of instruction of a school year, the Principal may, in his/her discretion, assign a designee to work with the child's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian to develop an absence intervention plan during the summer.

 

The absence intervention process shall commence upon the first day of instruction of the next school year.

 

Reporting Requirements

 

The attendance officer shall file a complaint in the juvenile court against a student on the sixty-first (61st) day after the implementation of an absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies, provided that all of the following apply:

 

  1. The student is habitually truant.
     
  2. The school district or school has made meaningful attempts to re-engage the student through the absence intervention plan, other intervention strategies, and any offered alternatives to adjudication, if applicable.
     
  3. The student has refused to participate in or failed to make satisfactory progress on the plan, as determined by the absence intervention team, or any offered intervention strategies or alternative to adjudication.

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If the student, at any time during the implementation phase of the absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies, is absent without legitimate excuse for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours or forty-two (42) or more hours in one school month, the attendance officer shall file a complaint in juvenile court against that student, unless the absence intervention team has determined that the student has made substantial progress on the absence intervention plan.

 

In the event that the sixty-first (61st) day after the implementation of the absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies falls on a day during the summer months, the absence intervention team may extend the implementation of the plan and delay the filing of the complaint for an additional thirty (30) days from the first day of instruction of the next school year.

 

The Superintendent is authorized to establish an educational program for parents of truant students which is designed to encourage parents to ensure that their children attend school regularly. Any parent who does not complete the program is to be reported to law enforcement authorities for parental education neglect, a fourth class misdemeanor if found guilty.

 

Whenever any student of compulsory school age has sixty (60) consecutive hours in a single month or a total of ninety (90) hours of unexcused absence from school during the school year, s/he will be considered habitually absent. The Board authorizes the Superintendent to inform the student and his/her parents, guardian, or custodian of the record of absences without a legitimate cause as well as the District's intent to notify the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, if appropriate, and the Judge of the Juvenile Court of the student's unexcused absences.

 

If a student who is habitually truant violates the order of a juvenile court regarding the student’s prior adjudication as an unruly child for being a habitual truant, s/he may further be adjudicated as a delinquent child.

 

The District shall report to the Ohio Department of Education, as soon as practicable, and in a format and manner determined by the Department, any of the following occurrences:

 

  1. when a notice that a student has been absent with or without legitimate excuse for thirty-eight (38) or more hours in one (1) school month, or sixty-five (65) or more hours in a school year is submitted to a parent/guardian/or custodian;
     
  2. when a child of compulsory school age has been absent without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours, forty-two (42) or more hours in one school month, or seventy-two (72) or more hours in a school year;
     
  3. when a child of compulsory school age who has been adjudicated an unruly child for being a habitual truant violates the court order regarding that adjudication;
     
  4. when an absence intervention plan has been implemented for a child under this policy.

 

This policy was developed after consultation with the judge of the juvenile court of the Cuyahoga County, with the parents, guardians, or other persons having care of the students attending school in the district, and with appropriate State and local agencies.

 

Revised 10/9/00

Revised 4/15/02

Revised 12/16/02

Revised 2/22/10

Revised 10/24/11

Revised 4/4/16

Revised 5/22/17

 

© Neola 2017

Agenda