RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATION - February 23, 2004
INFORMATION:
At the February 9, 2004, Board Curriculum Committee Meeting, the Board of School Directors reviewed modifications to the Attendance Policy.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Board of School Directors approves the attached modifications to the Attendance Policy.
Attendance Policy Change
Recommendations
The following changes are being recommended for the district's Attendance Policy, based on the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, which targets attendance as a major indicator of school success:
1. Reduce the number of allowable days of cumulative absences in a school year from ten (10) to seven (7) for secondary students and from fourteen (14) to ten (10) for elementary students. The requirement of a doctor's note for absences would also be reduced to seven (7) and ten (10) days respectively to reflect the new policy.
Rationale: The additional days allotted at the elementary level for student illness reflect the increased incidents of routine childhood diseases. Some absences at the secondary level are viewed as a privilege, and school attendance is regarded as an important aspect of a student's ability to be successful. The reduced number will hold students accountable to be in school on a regular basis.
2. Vacation Policy: Parents are strongly encouraged to schedule family vacations with the School District Calendar in mind to ensure that students attend school a maximum number of days.
Students at the elementary level will be permitted to take four (4) educational trips, up to a cumulative maximum of fifteen (15) school days during their tenure in elementary school. Educational trips may not exceed five (5) days per year.
Middle school students will be permitted to take two (2) educational trips, up to a cumulative maximum of (10) school days during their tenure at the middle school level. Educational trips may not exceed five (5) days per year.
High school students will be permitted to take two (2) educational trips, up to a cumulative maximum of (10) school days during their tenure at the high school level. Educational trips may not exceed five (5) days per year.
Parental requests which go beyond the number of days or trips allowed must first be approved by the building principal and then referred to the superintendent or his designee for final permission.
Any days taken beyond the maximum of five (5) days permitted for educational trips in a given year may be considered unexcused and unlawful for students under the age of seventeen (17) and unexcused for students seventeen (17) years of age and over. Appropriate legal action may be taken where applicable.
3.
College visitation days and
"Take Your Child to Work" day, will
be counted similarly to other school-sponsored field trips in which students
are marked present for the day. Students will be required to complete an
attendance form, which outlines the date, time, and place of the visitation,
the educational benefit of the scheduled visitation, and a signature from
someone overseeing the visitation at the business or college location.
4. Credit Denial: Credit will be denied at the high school level for those students who accrue more than nine (9) cumulative absences in a semester length course. Credit will also be denied for a nine-week course for those students who accrue more than five (5) cumulative absences. Students would be required to secure a doctor's note on the tenth day of the cumulative absence to ensure course credit for the semester length course. They would be required to secure a doctor's note on the sixth day of the cumulative absence to ensure credit for the nine-week course. Those students who miss more than the allotted days will receive the grade for the course, but not the credit. An appeal to the principal may be made based on extenuating circumstances related to attendance.
5. Potentially expelled students, who may qualify for the L/AMP Program, must receive homebound instruction immediately after the tenth day of suspension, unless reinstated. Students must be marked present during the homebound instruction. Once final board action is taken and the period of expulsion begins, students assigned to the L/AMP Program should be marked present on the basis of one hour of attendance per school day.
6. Extended Absence Intervention: If students of compulsory attendance age are absent for five (5) consecutive school days, the principal or designee must contact the family to determine the nature of the absence. In the event that contact cannot be made, students are referred to the district's attendance officers, or in the case of special education students, the home-school visitor.
7. Homebound Instruction/Out of District Placements: Recommend that homebound instruction for students begin immediately after a determination is made by a physician that the student will be absent for a minimum of twenty (20) school days. Attendance information provided by the homebound instructor must be used by the home school to update the students' attendance records. Students, who are placed on homebound instruction, must be counted as present at the home school and marked as "M" (medical) for the attendance code. The principal or designee must update students' attendance records to reflect homebound instruction. Please refer to the Procedures for Homebound Instructors, specifically the section entitled, "Reporting Homebound Instruction" for more details.
When students are placed in an outside facility for an extended period of time, the school administrator must consult with the Child Accounting Department for direction regarding attendance coding.
Effective: Immediately upon board approval.
The administration's recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 were considered together.