Student Absences
Reporting Absences
State law requires that parents notify the school office to report tardiness or absence from school, preferably by email. An email address has been established for attendance purposes. Parents may use this email address to report student absences: [email protected].
State law requires that parents notify the school office to report tardiness or absence from school, preferably by email. An email address has been established for attendance purposes. Parents may use this email address to report student absences: [email protected].
A total of 42 hours of parent notes may be used to excuse absences for illness. After 42 hours of parent notes have been used, we must receive a doctor/dentist/court/funeral document to be considered excused.
* Email for illness - this uses parent note hours.
When appropriate, please request a doctor/dentist/court/funeral document to be submitted to the school.
*Email a doctor note OR send in a paper copy - only one form of documentation is needed.
If you choose to call in, we still need to receive written notification of a child's absence within 3 days of the child's return to school in order for the absence to be considered excused. Excessive unexcused absences may result in letters from the district, meetings with building administrator (s) or potential involvement with the district truancy officer.
Please refer to the West Family Guide for more in-depth information regarding attendance procedures.
Student Absences and Excuses
Regular attendance by all students is very important. In many cases, irregular attendance is a major reason for poor schoolwork; therefore, all students are urged to make appointments, do personal errands, etc., outside of school hours.
However, there are situations that may cause a student to miss school. Parents or guardians are asked to notify the school, by email, as early as possible on the day a student is absent. A note from the parent or guardian explaining the reason for the absence is required when the student returns to school or an email to [email protected], explaining the absence in lieu of a handwritten note is preferrable.
The District sends a ParentSquare message to the parent/guardian, if school has not been notified the school of the student's absence that day.
Definitions of Medical Absences
For an absence to be considered excused, documentation must be submitted. Reasons for which students may be medically excused include, but are not limited to:
1. personal illness of the student;
2. illness in the student's family necessitating the presence of the child;
3. medical or dental appointment;
4. quarantine for contagious disease;
5. death in the family (applies to absences of up to eighteen (18) school hours unless a reasonable cause may be shown for a longer absence) or
6. emergency or other set of circumstances which in the judgment of the Superintendent/designee constitutes a good and sufficient cause for absence from school.
Definitions of Nonmedical Absences
For an absence to be considered excused, documentation must be submitted. Additional reasons for which student’s absence may be excused include,
but not limited to:
1. observance of a religious holiday consistent with the truly held religious belief of the student of the family;
2. college visitation;
3. traveling out of state to attend a Board-approved enrichment activity or extracurricular activity (applies to absences of up to twenty-four (24) school hours);
4. absences due to a student’s placement in foster care or change in foster care placement;
5. any mandatory court appearance;
6. absences due to a student being homeless;
7. needed at home to perform necessary work directly and exclusively for parents or legal guardians for a limited period of time when approved in advance by the Superintendent/designee (applies to students over fourteen [14] years of age only when all statutory obligations have been met such excusal);
8. an emergency or other set of circumstances which in the judgment of the Superintendent/designee is a good and sufficient cause for absence from school;
9. pre-enlistment reporting to military enlistment processing station or
10. absences of a students of a military family for purposes of visiting their parent, legal guardian or custodian who is an active duty member of the uniformed services that has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting;
Accepted documentation to excuse absences
1. The first forty-two (42) school hours of absence in a school year for full-time students and the first twenty-one (21) school hours of absence for half-time students may be excused, if the absence is for one of the above reasons, and if the parent or guardian provides a note/email to school explaining the reason for the absence. Such notes are required to be submitted no more than three (3) school days after the student’s return. If documentation is not provided within this time period, the absence(s) will be deemed unexcused. Early dismissals and late arrivals are counted toward the number of hours absent.
2. If a student accrues more than forty-two (42) excused hours in a school year for full-time and twenty-one (21) excused hours for half time, the additional hours absent may still be excused; however, additional documentation may be required in some situations. In addition to the note from the parent or guardian required for any absence, the following situations may require this specified additional documentation:
A. personal illness - doctor’s note verifying illness and date when student can return to school;
B. illness in the family - doctor's note explaining the relationship and illness;
C. death of a relative - obituary noting family relationship;
D. quarantine of the home - doctor’s note;
E. college visit - school-authorized documentation of visit;
F. court appearance - documentation from court verifying appearance.
3. All other absences are unexcused.
Tardies
Any student who arrives after the designated starting time of a building’s school daywill be considered tardy. Any time missed will count toward the number of hours absent.
Make-Up Work
A student whose absence from school is unexcused shall be permitted to make up work, except for the student who voluntarily does not report for class as assigned or leaves school property without authorization by school officials. It is the student’s responsibility to secure the work. The work, when satisfactorily completed and submitted in a timely manner according to established procedures, will be accepted for a minimum of passing credit.
Vacations or Other Non-Emergency Trips
The Board does not believe that students should be excused from school for vacations or other nonemergency trips out of the District. The responsibility for such absences resides with the parent or guardian, and they must not expect any work missed by their child to be re-taught by the teacher. If the school is notified in advance
of such a trip, reasonable efforts are made to prepare a general list of assignments for the student to do while he/she is absent. Completion of makeup work will not excuse these absences.
Absence Due to Out of School Suspension
A student who is out of school due to suspension shall be permitted to make up work. This work, when submitted in a timely manner according to established procedures, will be accepted. The absence for out-of-school suspension will be an excused absence.
Sent Home by the School Nurse
Students who are sent home from school by the school nurse, due to illness, will not require a note for the day they are dismissed.
Absences and Truancy
1. Habitual Truant
A student with thirty (30) or more consecutive unexcused school hours, or forty-two (42) unexcused school hours in one month, or seventy-two (72) unexcused school hours in one school year, may be considered “habitual” truant, under Section 2151.011 of the Ohio Revised Code.
2. Absence Intervention
Once a student is considered a habitual truant, the following will occur: a) Within seven (7) school days of the triggering absence, the District will select the members of the absence intervention team and make three (3) meaningful attempts to secure the participation of the student's parent or guardian on the absence intervention team; b) Within ten (10) days of the triggering absence, the student will be assigned to the selected absence intervention team; c) Within fourteen (14) days of the assignment of the team, the District will develop the student's absence intervention plan; and d) If the student does not make progress on the plan within sixty-one (61) days or continues to be excessively absent, the District may file a complaint in the juvenile court. The student’s parent(s), guardian(s) or other person(s) having care of the student may also receive a citation to the appropriate court.
The Board authorizes the Superintendent/designee to establish a hearing and notification procedure for the purpose of denying a student’s driving privileges if that student of compulsory school age has sixty (60) consecutive hours during a school month or a total of at least ninety (90) hours during a school year.
3. Retention of Truant Students
Under Section 3313.609 of the Ohio Revised Code the Board is required to adopt a policy on the retention of truant students. The Board shall prohibit the promotion of a student to the next grade level if the student has been truant (absent without excuse) for more than ten (10) percent of the required attendance days in the current school year, and has failed two (2) or more of the required curriculum subject areas in the current grade. These provisions may be waived if the student’s principal and teacher agree, in writing, that the student is academically prepared to be promoted to the next grade level.
Regular attendance by all students is very important. In many cases, irregular attendance is a major reason for poor schoolwork; therefore, all students are urged to make appointments, do personal errands, etc., outside of school hours.
However, there are situations that may cause a student to miss school. Parents or guardians are asked to notify the school, by email, as early as possible on the day a student is absent. A note from the parent or guardian explaining the reason for the absence is required when the student returns to school or an email to [email protected], explaining the absence in lieu of a handwritten note is preferrable.
The District sends a ParentSquare message to the parent/guardian, if school has not been notified the school of the student's absence that day.
Definitions of Medical Absences
For an absence to be considered excused, documentation must be submitted. Reasons for which students may be medically excused include, but are not limited to:
1. personal illness of the student;
2. illness in the student's family necessitating the presence of the child;
3. medical or dental appointment;
4. quarantine for contagious disease;
5. death in the family (applies to absences of up to eighteen (18) school hours unless a reasonable cause may be shown for a longer absence) or
6. emergency or other set of circumstances which in the judgment of the Superintendent/designee constitutes a good and sufficient cause for absence from school.
Definitions of Nonmedical Absences
For an absence to be considered excused, documentation must be submitted. Additional reasons for which student’s absence may be excused include,
but not limited to:
1. observance of a religious holiday consistent with the truly held religious belief of the student of the family;
2. college visitation;
3. traveling out of state to attend a Board-approved enrichment activity or extracurricular activity (applies to absences of up to twenty-four (24) school hours);
4. absences due to a student’s placement in foster care or change in foster care placement;
5. any mandatory court appearance;
6. absences due to a student being homeless;
7. needed at home to perform necessary work directly and exclusively for parents or legal guardians for a limited period of time when approved in advance by the Superintendent/designee (applies to students over fourteen [14] years of age only when all statutory obligations have been met such excusal);
8. an emergency or other set of circumstances which in the judgment of the Superintendent/designee is a good and sufficient cause for absence from school;
9. pre-enlistment reporting to military enlistment processing station or
10. absences of a students of a military family for purposes of visiting their parent, legal guardian or custodian who is an active duty member of the uniformed services that has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting;
Accepted documentation to excuse absences
1. The first forty-two (42) school hours of absence in a school year for full-time students and the first twenty-one (21) school hours of absence for half-time students may be excused, if the absence is for one of the above reasons, and if the parent or guardian provides a note/email to school explaining the reason for the absence. Such notes are required to be submitted no more than three (3) school days after the student’s return. If documentation is not provided within this time period, the absence(s) will be deemed unexcused. Early dismissals and late arrivals are counted toward the number of hours absent.
2. If a student accrues more than forty-two (42) excused hours in a school year for full-time and twenty-one (21) excused hours for half time, the additional hours absent may still be excused; however, additional documentation may be required in some situations. In addition to the note from the parent or guardian required for any absence, the following situations may require this specified additional documentation:
A. personal illness - doctor’s note verifying illness and date when student can return to school;
B. illness in the family - doctor's note explaining the relationship and illness;
C. death of a relative - obituary noting family relationship;
D. quarantine of the home - doctor’s note;
E. college visit - school-authorized documentation of visit;
F. court appearance - documentation from court verifying appearance.
3. All other absences are unexcused.
Tardies
Any student who arrives after the designated starting time of a building’s school daywill be considered tardy. Any time missed will count toward the number of hours absent.
Make-Up Work
A student whose absence from school is unexcused shall be permitted to make up work, except for the student who voluntarily does not report for class as assigned or leaves school property without authorization by school officials. It is the student’s responsibility to secure the work. The work, when satisfactorily completed and submitted in a timely manner according to established procedures, will be accepted for a minimum of passing credit.
Vacations or Other Non-Emergency Trips
The Board does not believe that students should be excused from school for vacations or other nonemergency trips out of the District. The responsibility for such absences resides with the parent or guardian, and they must not expect any work missed by their child to be re-taught by the teacher. If the school is notified in advance
of such a trip, reasonable efforts are made to prepare a general list of assignments for the student to do while he/she is absent. Completion of makeup work will not excuse these absences.
Absence Due to Out of School Suspension
A student who is out of school due to suspension shall be permitted to make up work. This work, when submitted in a timely manner according to established procedures, will be accepted. The absence for out-of-school suspension will be an excused absence.
Sent Home by the School Nurse
Students who are sent home from school by the school nurse, due to illness, will not require a note for the day they are dismissed.
Absences and Truancy
1. Habitual Truant
A student with thirty (30) or more consecutive unexcused school hours, or forty-two (42) unexcused school hours in one month, or seventy-two (72) unexcused school hours in one school year, may be considered “habitual” truant, under Section 2151.011 of the Ohio Revised Code.
2. Absence Intervention
Once a student is considered a habitual truant, the following will occur: a) Within seven (7) school days of the triggering absence, the District will select the members of the absence intervention team and make three (3) meaningful attempts to secure the participation of the student's parent or guardian on the absence intervention team; b) Within ten (10) days of the triggering absence, the student will be assigned to the selected absence intervention team; c) Within fourteen (14) days of the assignment of the team, the District will develop the student's absence intervention plan; and d) If the student does not make progress on the plan within sixty-one (61) days or continues to be excessively absent, the District may file a complaint in the juvenile court. The student’s parent(s), guardian(s) or other person(s) having care of the student may also receive a citation to the appropriate court.
The Board authorizes the Superintendent/designee to establish a hearing and notification procedure for the purpose of denying a student’s driving privileges if that student of compulsory school age has sixty (60) consecutive hours during a school month or a total of at least ninety (90) hours during a school year.
3. Retention of Truant Students
Under Section 3313.609 of the Ohio Revised Code the Board is required to adopt a policy on the retention of truant students. The Board shall prohibit the promotion of a student to the next grade level if the student has been truant (absent without excuse) for more than ten (10) percent of the required attendance days in the current school year, and has failed two (2) or more of the required curriculum subject areas in the current grade. These provisions may be waived if the student’s principal and teacher agree, in writing, that the student is academically prepared to be promoted to the next grade level.