New Lebanon Central School District
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Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy

Purpose/Statement of Objectives

  1. This Board of Education attendance policy has been developed and implemented to ensure the maintenance of an adequate record verifying the attendance of all children at instruction in accordance with Education Law ยงยง3205 and 3210 and establishes a mechanism by which the patterns of pupil absence can be examined to develop effective intervention strategies to improve school attendance.
  2. It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent of Schools to prepare and the Board of Education to enact appropriate rules and regulations to monitor and record the attendance of all children.
  3. The New Lebanon Central School District Board of Education, in accordance with the State Education Law requires that each minor in the District regularly attends school full-time from the first day of session in September of the school year in which the minor becomes six (6) years of age through the last day of the school year in which such minor becomes sixteen (16) years of age, unless he/she has successfully completed all requirements for a high school diploma. Any District resident who is under 21 years of age, who has not received a high school diploma, is entitled to attend the New Lebanon Central School District without payment of tuition. The student may attend a school other than a public school or receive home instruction, provided the instruction is equivalent to that provided in the public schools.

Strategies to be Employed

The District will employ the following strategies to ensure good attendance of all of its students:

  1. An attendance policy and appropriate recordkeeping mechanisms to ensure that the attendance of all students is tracked and analyzed.
  2. Mechanisms to intervene on the individual student level when a student's attendance record demonstrates a need for improvement.
  3. Incentives to encourage good attendance and improve the attendance of all District students.

Excused and Unexcused Absences

Appropriate Grounds for Excused Absences or Tardiness

The student and his/her parent or person in parental relation are responsible for providing written notification of the reason for such absences upon the student's return to school. Whenever possible, parents or persons in parental relation are encouraged to contact the school in writing or by telephone prior to the absence. The following list represents legal and appropriate bases for being absent from school or tardy.

Excused Absences/Tardies

The following is a list of possible reasons for a student's absence/tardy to be excused:

  1. student illness
  2. illness or death in the student's family
  3. late bus arrival due to unsafe travel conditions
  4. religious observance
  5. appointment with a physician or other health care provider when appointments can not be scheduled beyond the school day (documented)
  6. medical quarantine of the student
  7. required court appearance by the student or other legal matters
  8. college visit with prior approval of the administration
  9. school related activities (field trip, presentation/competition of another school, etc.)
  10. academic examination
  11. family/school crisis
  12. any other absence excused at the discretion of the Superintendent

Unexcused Absences/Tardies

An absence or tardy from school for any reason other than those listed above shall be considered unexcused.

The District will not accept parental requests to excuse their child from school for reasons not included above (e.g., to take a driver's test, to get a haircut, to go shopping, to go on a family trip, or not stating a specific reason). Excuses that a student "overslept" or had "car trouble" are also unacceptable and will constitute an unexcused absence or tardy.

Absences for reasons set forth above for which a student does not have pre-approval from the School Principal or for which the student does not provide an appropriate note or documentation within three (3) school days of his/her return to school will also be recorded as an unexcused absence.

Recordkeeping

  1. The school nurse will be responsible for: collecting written excuses for absences; determining legal and illegal absences according to the above section of this policy; and filing excuses for absences in a student's folder.

    The student's parent/guardian or the student (if he/she is legally emancipated) shall be responsible for notifying the school of the student's absence on each day the student is not in attendance. Such notification shall be made to the school nurse by 9 a.m. at the Jr./Sr. High School and by 10 a.m. at the Walter B. Howard Elementary School on the day the student is absent. The school nurse will make daily contact with the student's parents/guardians regarding the student's absence (excused/unexcused) if it has not been reported by these times.
  2. When attendance will be taken:
    1. At the Walter B. Howard Elementary School, attendance shall be taken each morning at the beginning of the school day.

      The classroom teacher will indicate all absent and tardy students on a daily attendance form. The classroom teacher will also send all absence notes to the main office. The classroom teacher is responsible for notifying the school nurse of a mistake in attendance.

      The school nurse is responsible for attendance recordkeeping. The school nurse will refer to each teacher's daily attendance form and record each student's absence and tardiness on each child's attendance record. A record of individual student tardiness including time of arrival will be maintained in the Nurse's office. The classroom teacher will indicate absences and tardiness on each student's report card.
    2. At the Jr./Sr. High School attendance shall be taken at the beginning of each scheduled period. Each teacher/supervisor shall record the students' presence or absence and shall report all absences or tardies to the Nurse's office. Each teacher/supervisor shall maintain a written record of student attendance for each period.
  3. Contacting parents. If no parent or person in parental relation is home, the District will contact a parent or person in parental relationship at their place of employment. In both situations, if contact is not made with a parent or person in parental relation, a message will be left for the parent or person in parental relation to call the school immediately.
  4. Each student's attendance record shall include the following information: name, date of birth, names of parents or persons in parental relation; address where student resides; phone numbers where parents or persons in parental relation can be reached; date of enrollment; a record of the student's attendance on each day of scheduled instruction recorded in conformity with the Win-School Codes shown below; a record of each scheduled day of instruction during which the school is closed for all or part of the day due to extraordinary circumstances.

Win School Codes*

  • ISS = In School Suspension
  • OSS = Out of School Suspension
  • P = Present
  • P/A = Present/Absent - Child here & leaves
  • A/P = Absent/Present - Child is sick and then comes in
  • TE = = Tardy/excused
  • T = Tardy/unexcused
  • A/S = Absent sick
  • A/L = Absent excused
  • A/I = Absent unexcused
  • A/App = Absent, had an appointment
  • A/Ed = Absent due to Education (child to work day)
  • A/Rel = Religious Holiday
  • A/Family = Absent due to illness in the family
  • A/T = Absent Truant
  • S = Any other absence excused in the discretion of the Superintendent

*Win School codes may be revised at any time. The foregoing codes are examples of codes that may be used, or other codes developed by Walter B. Howard Elementary School and the Jr./Sr. High School may be used.

Incentives, Consequences, Course Credit

  1. Incentives for Good Attendance. In addition to the likelihood of enhanced educational progress, good attendance will be the basis for student recognition awards. Any student who has perfect attendance shall be eligible for perfect attendance recognition.

    Students will be rewarded for good attendance with a variety of school privileges. Such privileges may include, but are not limited to, participation in and/or attendance at: dances, sporting events, extracurricular activities, clubs, school concerts, and field trips.
  2. Consequences for Poor Attendance. Chronic absences and tardiness, whether excused or unexcused, are disruptive to the educational process and will not be tolerated. Make-up work will be encouraged for excused absences. For unexcused absences, make-up work will generally not be offered. The following procedures are in place to deal with excessive absences (whether excused or unexcused):

Walter B. Howard Elementary School

  1. 10 days absent -- written notification to parents by the school nurse;
  2. 18 days absent -- there will be written notification to the parents by the principal including a review of the school attendance policy. There will also be a meeting with the principal, teacher, parent and the school nurse; parents will be informed by potential need to contact Child Protective Services and file a PINS (Person in Need of Supervision) Petition. The student may be excluded from participating in any school-sponsored activity until the meeting takes place;
  3. 25 days absent -- there will be a meeting with the principal, teacher, parent and school nurse with written notification to the parent advising imminent potential to call Child Protective Services and to file a PINS petition based on the discretion of the principal.

Jr./Sr. High School

  1. Parents will receive written notification, as a warning, for a two (2) semester course after a student has accumulated 8, 18, and 25 days of absences. The final notification of 28 days supports the policy of loss of credit.
  2. Parents will receive written notification, as a warning, for a one (1) semester course (or Physical Education scheduled three (3) times or less per week) after a student has accumulated 4 and 9 days of absences. The final notification of 14 days supports the policy for loss of credit.
  3. Parents will receive written notification, as a warning, for a ten (10) week Occupational Education course after a student has accumulated 3 and 5 days of absences. The final notification of seven (7) days supports the policy of loss of credit.
  4. Parents may be requested to meet with the student's teacher to discuss the importance of improving course attendance as absences accumulate.
  5. The Principal shall decide whether or not to file a PINS as a result of poor attendance.

Course Credit

  1. In a two (2) semester course, twenty-eight (28) absences may result in a loss of a unit of credit.
  2. In a one (1) semester course, fourteen (14) absences may result in a loss of credit.
  3. In a ten (10) week course, seven (7) absences may result in a loss of credit.
  4. For students scheduled into Physical Education Class three (3) times or less per week, eighteen (18) absences may result in loss of credit.
  5. Unexcused tardiness in excess of ten (10) minutes will constitute a class absence.

Appeal Process

  1. If the building principal, a student and/or his/her parents or guardians believe that extenuating circumstances were the reason for a specific group of absences, they may request a review by the High School Attendance Review Committee. The Attendance Review Committee shall be composed of the school nurse, two (2) teachers, the guidance counselor, the high school principal, and two (2) students who are to be selected by the Student Council from the list of trained Peer Mediators. The task of the Attendance Review Committee is to consider excusing a student's absences from being counted toward the loss of credit in a course(s). The Review Committee shall forward a recommendation to the Superintendent of Schools, who will make the final decision after reviewing the recommendation from the committee.
  2. The Attendance Review Committee shall determine no later than a week (5 school days) before the first day of scheduled school exams each year if the student appealing the record of absences has made up all missing work, if the student shall or shall not be allowed to take the final exam or get credit for a final project, performance, etc. or if a loss of credit has been determined for a specific course(s).
  3. Unexcused tardiness and absences will also subject a student to the range of penalties specified in the District's Code of Conduct.

Strategies for Intervention

What can be done to encourage students to change their attitudes and behaviors regarding attendance:

  1. teacher alerts student verbally
  2. teachers contacts the parent by phone and/or written progress report
  3. teacher alerts the administration
  4. the administration may:
    1. contact parent/guardian - via phone, letter
    2. alert guidance counselor, social worker and/or school psychologist (meeting of Child Study Team)
    3. contact outside agencies for educational neglect - PINS petition
  5. Development of an Attendance Intervention Strategy:

The Superintendent, through a committee of teachers, parents, and school administrators, will develop an attendance intervention strategy consistent with this policy in the event that regular reviews of the District's attendance record suggests that overall student attendance is declining or should be improved.

Policy Review and Assessment

This policy shall be annually reviewed by the Board of Education at the same time that the building level attendance records are reviewed. If the attendance records show a decline in attendance, the Board shall revise this policy as is necessary to improve attendance.

Distribution and Public Awareness

  1. Public Meeting. This policy shall be adopted only after it has been presented at a public meeting of the Board of Education, duly noticed, that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students, and any other interested person.
  2. Plain Language Summary. The Superintendent shall create a plain language summary of this policy which shall be distributed to parents and persons in parental relationship to all District students at the beginning of each school year.
  3. Distribution to staff. Each teacher and administrator shall be provided with a copy of this policy upon adoption or subsequent amendment. Each new teacher or administrator shall be provided a copy of this policy upon employment.
  4. This policy shall be made available to any member of the community upon request.

Education Law Sections 3024, 3025, 3202, 3205, 3206, 3210, 3211 and 3213

8 New York Code of Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Sections 104.1, 109.2 and 175.6

Adopted: 2/16/05