LEGAL REFERENCES:
1. T.C.A 49-6-3001
2. T.C.A 49-6-3007
3. T.C.A 49-6-3009
4. T.C.A 49-6-3041
5. T.C.A 49-6-3017
6. Attendance Accounting Procedural Manual, Minimum
Standards and Guidelines, State Department of Education.
DEFINITIONS
Absent: A
student is not in attendance in regularly scheduled classes at the school where
he/she attends.
Present: A
student is in attendance in regularly scheduled classes where he/she attends.
Early Dismissal:
A student leaving a class or school early before the end of the school
day.
Attendance Review Committee: A building level committee to review
extenuating circumstances which would adequately explain a student’s excessive
absence from school and/or class. The
Attendance Review Committee is composed of the superintendent or designee,
attendance supervisor, principal or designee, guidance counselor, and a
classroom teacher.
Please help us help
your child
IT’S THE LAW
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
POLICY
North Stewart Elementary
1031 Spring Street
(931) 232-5176
Adopted
Revised 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004
T.C.A
49-6-3001- Every parent, guardian, other person residing within the state of
Tennessee, having control or charge of any child or children between the ages
of six (6) and seventeen (17) years, both inclusive *, shall cause such child
or children to attend public or non-public school, and in event of failure to
do so, shall be subject to the penalties hereinafter provided.
*
The meaning of the word “inclusive” is that the child must attend school from
six (6) until eighteen (18) years old.
ATTENDANCE REPORTS REQUIRED BY LAW
T.C.A
49-6-3007- It shall be the duty of the principal or teacher of every public and
non-public school to report promptly to the superintendent of schools, or his
designated representative, the names of all children who have withdrawn from
school, or who have been absent five (5) days (this means a total of
five (5) consecutive days) without adequate excuse
Such
superintendent shall thereupon serve, or cause to be served, upon the
parent, guardian, or other person in
The
superintendent of any local school system, after written notice to the parent
or guardian of a child,
shall report any child who habitually and unlawfully
absents himself from school to the appropriate judge having juvenile
jurisdiction in that county, the child to be dealt with in such manner as
the judge may determine to be for the best interest of the child.
PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS
T.C.A
49-6-3009-Any parent, guardian, or other person who has control of a child, or
children, and who shall violate the provisions of this part commits a Class C
misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to a maximum 30 days
incarceration and a fine not to exceed $50 plus court costs. Each day’s unlawful absence shall constitute
a separate misdemeanor.
Recognizing
that absenteeism is a hindrance to efficient education of students and that
punctuality and regularity of attendance affect the progress of a student at
school, the Stewart County Board of Education has adopted the following
attendance policy. The parents/guardian
or other person having charge and control of a child is held responsible for
the child’s regular school attendance.
A
students absence is determined to be “excused” or
“unexcused” and is based on the following information:
EXCUSED ABSENCES
1. The student’s
personal illness or hospitalization. A physician’s statement or parent
conference may be required at any time should the principal or the Director of
Attendance deem it necessary. If the
illness or the hospitalization is to exceed ten (10) consecutive days, the
parent/guardian should apply for homebound instruction.
2. An illness or
incapacitating condition of a family member which requires the temporary help
of a student. (A physician’s statement may be required.
3. A death in
the immediate family. (family includes parent,
stepparent, guardian, grandparent, brother, sister, stepbrother/sister, aunt
and uncle.)
4. Recognized
religious holidays/events. Parents and
guardians are requested to inform the school principal prior to a student being
absent from school for religious holidays/events.
5. Required
court appearances. A student may be
excused from school attendance for required court appearances. (Verification from appropriate authorities
must be provided.)
6. Agricultural
activities of the immediate household in which the student is residing.
7. Other
emergency or unusual extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the
student. These must be approved by the
school personnel.
Students and parents have the right to appeal any
attendance matter to the attendance review committee.
UNEXCUSED ABSENCES
Absences for reasons other than those stated above may
be for reasonable cause but are considered to be “unexcused” for official
school record keeping and attendance purposes.
ATTENDANCE AND
MIDTERM/FINAL EXAMS
GRADES 6-12
If the teacher permits, students who have perfect
attendance in a class at the end of the quarter are exempt from taking the
quarter final exam in grades 9-12 or exempt from taking the cumulative 9 weeks
tests in grades 6-8 as long as the quarter average grade in the class is not
lower than a “C”. The student may elect
to take the exam to improve his/her grade average even if not required to do so
because of perfect
attendance for the quarter.
STUDENT ATTENDANCE
GRADES K-8
In order to meet the requirements for promotion, a
student in the Stewart County School System must have an approved record of
attendance. An approved record of
attendance is considered to be 90% or above.
A student with unexcused absences in excess of 10% or (18 days) each
year may be referred to the Truancy Review Board. Attendance for promotion will be determined
at the end of the school year.
The
attendance of students who have not reached the age of six (6) shall be
satisfactory. Unsatisfactory attendance
that is not supported by an adequate excuse may result in the suspension of a
student for an indefinite period of time.
ATTENDANCE AND
MAKE-UP WORK POLICY
GRADES 9-12
RATIONALE
Recognizing that absenteeism is a hindrance to efficient
education of students and that punctuality and regularity of attendance affects the progress of a
student at school, the following attendance and make-up policy for students in
grades 9-12 is adopted by the Stewart County Board of Education.
The parents/guardian or other person having charge and
control of a child is responsible for the child’s regular school
attendance. In order to meet the
requirements for credit, a student at
Teachers are encouraged to make use of daily
participation grades a part of the quarter report card grades to encourage and
reward attendance.
MAKE-UP WORK AND ATTENDANCE
The purpose of this policy for making up work when
absent is to provide a degree of reasonableness and fairness to the student who
is absent. When permitted, the extent of
make-up is determined by the teacher.
After an absence and when permitted, it is the student’s responsibility
to make up all assignments according to the teacher’s instructions and in a
reasonable amount of time as determined by the teacher.
The teacher will allow and assist with make-up
work and missed assignments under the two instances described below:
1. The teacher
will allow and assist with make-up work with any absence that has been
determined to be “EXCUSED” by the office. (See section “EXCUSED ABSENCES” for
the definition of an excused absence.)
If the office determines an absence to be “EXCUSED”
according to the policies discussed previously, the admission slip will be marked
“EXCUSED.” An admission slip is to be
picked up by each student upon returning to school.
2. The teacher
will allow and assist with make-up with any unexcused absence in which the
teacher believes the allowing of make-up work is justified.
This determination by the teacher is based on factors
including but not limited to the student’s attendance record and patterns,
effort, and personal knowledge or the student’s situation as to the absence.
When the teacher feels that an absence is unjustified
based on the reasons above ( and not determined to be
“EXCUSED”), the teacher is not required to allow make-up work for the day(s)
missed. The make-up work may include class
work, homework, or exams. Students are
allowed to make-up missed quarter and semester exams except for willful
negligence on the part of the student.
Teachers are not required to provide homework
assignments in advance for students while they are absent. Reasonable time to
make-up work will be allowed by the teacher upon the student’s return to school
if make-up work is allowed.
Homebound instruction is available to students who are
excessively absent due to medical condition.
Homebound instructions must be based upon a physician’s
instructions. Contact the Attendance
Supervisor for more information.
SUSPENSION AND MAKE-UP WORK
Suspensions from school are unexcused absences and
make-up class work and exams are not allowed to be made-up. The only exceptions for make-up due to
suspensions are quarter and final exams.
ATTENDANCE/ACADEMIC
AFFECTING
THE
Any student who has 10 consecutive unexcused absences
or 15 cumulative unexcused absences in a semester or any student who is not
passing two (2) subjects at the end of a semester will have their name reported
to the Tennessee Department of Safety.
As a result, the student will lose their
ATTENDANCE OF
STUDENTS WHO ARE
EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER
The attendance of students who have reached the age of
eighteen (18) shall be satisfactory.
Students eighteen (18) years of age or older are required to meet the
same attendance criteria as other students.
Failure to observe these rules shall result in a student being suspended
for an indefinite period of time.
ATTENDANCE AFFECTING
EARNING OF ACADEMIC
CREDIT
AT
In order to maximize learning and to instill the
importance of an attendance ethic by students for school and work, a minimum
standard of attendance is established in order for a student to earn credit in
classes at
For credit to be earned, a student cannot have more
than 7 unexcused absences in a nine weeks grading period. If this occurs, any quarter grade of 70 or
higher becomes a 69 for grading and/or averaging purposes.
In determining attendance in a class for the day, a
student must be present in the class for a minimum of 70% of the available time
(62 minutes) in a 88 minute class.
THE FOLLOWING
INFORMATION APPLIES TO ALL SCHOOLS
SCHOOL RELATED ACTIVITIES
Off-campus and/or out-of-school activities shall be
counted as attendance only when school directed, with prior approval of the
Principal.
APPEALS PROCESS
Students/guardians have the right to appeal any
attendance matter to an attendance review committee.
PROCEDURES FOR ABSENCES:
A guardian must notify the school by phone or note of
the student’s absenteeism the day of the absence or before
PROCEDURES FOR TARDINESS
When arriving late for school, the student should be
accompanied by the parent/guardian or have a note or phone call from the
parent/guardian prior
to the student’s arrival explaining the student’s tardiness.
PROCEDURES FOR EARLY DISMISSAL
Students shall not be permitted to leave school
premises during the school day without request of the parent/guardian and the
approval of the principal.
STUDENTS AND GUARDIANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REFER TO THE
HANDBOOKS OF EACH SCHOOL FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
IMPLEMENTATION OF
ATTENDANCE POLICY
(ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS)
1. Parent
notification after a total of twelve (12) absences (excused or unexcused),
documented by letter or phone call.
2. Students
notification between 10 and 15 absences by principal or his/her designee (date
documented).
3. Attendance
Supervisor notified of unverified absence for further action.
4. During and at
the end of the school year, the principal will solicit teacher referral of
students with passing grades and more than 18 absences.
5. Call or mail
letters to parents to
discuss their child’s absences.
IMPLEMENTATION OF
ATTENDANCE POLICY
(HIGH SCHOOL)
1. Attendance
Supervisor notified of unverified absences for further action.
2. Parent
notification by Attendance Supervisor or other school personnel of students who
have excess absences without adequate excuses.
REPORTING PROCEDURE
FOR UNEXCUSED
ABSENCES
(SYSTEM-WIDE)
1. If and/or
when a student
commits his/her fifth (5th) unexcused absence, a letter will be sent to the
parents or guardian.
2. If a student
continues to miss school without adequate excuse after five (5) unexcused
absences, that student’s name and the facts of such unlawful absences will be
reported to the juvenile authorities.
3. Parents or guardian will be renotified
by the superintendent or his/her designee after each successive five (5) day
period of unexcused absences.