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Attendance

ATTENDANCE AND TARDINESS:
Students are responsible for attending school regularly, and attendance is compulsory until the age of eighteen.  Elementary students must be in attendance for a minimum number of days per school year.  If a child has 10 or more absences, he/she may not be promoted to the next grade.  When a child is absent, a written statement should be brought to school within 5 days of the student's return. No backdating of doctor notes will be accepted. The written statement must give the reason for the absence and must be signed.  The written note does not guarantee the absence will be excused. It is important that parents understand any absence counts toward the ten days, excused or not excused.  

Any student who has had a communicable disease or has been absent for five consecutive school days with any illness, must present a DOCTOR'S CERTIFICATE in order to be readmitted to school. In order for a child to make up work, the doctor’s excuse must be turned in within three days of returning to school.  Class work for the excused absences may be made up, but the student must meet with the teacher to obtain the assignments.  The following reasons for absences are valid and may be excusable, but still count toward the ten days:  illness as verified by a doctor's note, medical or dental appointments, absences approved in advance by the school principal (military events), death of a family member, & extenuating circumstances.            

 The following reasons are not excusable absences:  truancy, missing the school bus, parents slept in, vacations, shopping, hunting, fishing, or trawling, birthday or other celebrations, and suspensions/detentions.   The first bell rings at 8:10 a.m., and the tardy bell rings at 8:15 a.m. Students are not permitted on school grounds before 7:55 a.m., unless they are enrolled in the Before/After School Program.

If your child has a doctor’s appointment in the morning, please be sure to get a note from the doctor.  If you have a doctor’s note, your child’s tardy will be excused. A parent must accompany his/her child to the office to check a tardy student in. If a child is tardy to school or checks out any time during the school day, the child will not be eligible for Perfect Attendance. The Perfect Attendance criteria are:
·          Students must attend school EVERY day.
·          Students may NOT check out, whether it is excused or unexcused.
·          Students may not be tardy, whether it is excused or unexcused.

EXCLUSION
A child will be excluded from school if he/she has lice, if he/she has a communicable disease or if he/she does not live in the attendance zone. In the case of a child’s clothing becoming soiled because of a bathroom accident or an illness, the office will call the parents to either bring in clean clothes or check the child out to clean and change the child at home. If a child is given an exclusion letter, the terms of the exclusion will be outlined in the letter. Remember that a child who has been excluded cannot ride the school bus to school the next school day. The child must meet all criteria before he/she can be readmitted to school and the parents must bring them into the office to check in.

PPSB Attendance Guidelines                                                                                                 Students and parents are responsible for the students’ consistent attendance.  Attendance is compulsory until the age of eighteen.  Students who have attained the age of seven years shall attend a public or private day school or participate in an approved home study program until they reach the age of 18 years (Louisiana Administrative Code Dec. 2020, p.29). The literature and statistical evidence indicate that consistent attendance is a precursor to high achievement.  A student shall be considered habitually absent or habitually tardy when either condition continues to exist after all reasonable efforts by any school personnel, truancy officer, or other law enforcement personnel have failed to correct the condition after the fifth unexcused absence or fifth unexcused occurrence of being tardy within any school semester.  The parent or legal guardian of a student shall enforce the attendance of the student at the school to which the student is assigned (Louisiana Administrative Code).  Students with unexcused absences who are not in attendance for the mandated days will not be promoted.  All absences are defined in the following categories: Absences may fall into the following four categories:

Type of Absence

Definition

Make-up Work

1-Non-Exempted, Excused Absence

(counts in 10 days K-8 when considered for credit removal)
(counts in 5 days 9-12 when considered for credit removal)

An absence that is incurred due to personal illness or serious illness in the family and is documented by an acceptable excuse, including a parent note and is not determined to be a habitual attendance problem.  

This type of absence is not considered when reporting for truancy; however, this type of absence is an absence & is counted in the set days a student can miss when determining a student’s ability to receive credit for a course or successful completion of a school year.  Returning a parent’s excuse only ensures the student will have the opportunity to make up their work; it does not guarantee the student will avoid credit removal due to excessive absences. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain all missed work and return that work in a reasonable time.  {For example: if a student misses 2 days, he has 2 days to return the missed work.}

Permitted

***As set by the PPSB Pupil Progression Plan, students have 5 days beginning on the date of their return to present valid documentation for an excused absence. After five days from the date of return, documentation will not be accepted, and the absence is categorized as unexcused. It is solely the responsibility of the legal guardian and the student to present documentation to the designated school authority.

2-Exempted, Excused Absence

The following criteria apply:  Verified doctor’s excuse; Death in the family (not to exceed 5 school days); Recognized religious holidays of student’s faith; Visitation with a PARENT who is a member of the US Armed Forces and who has been called to duty or is on leave from an overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting (not to exceed 5 school days per year).

This type of absence is not considered for purposes of truancy and is not considered when determining whether or not a student is eligible to make up work and tests, receive credit for work completed, and receive credit for a course and/or school year. 

Permitted

***As set by the PPSB Pupil Progression Plan, students have 5 days beginning on the date of their return to present valid documentation for an excused absence. After five days documentation will not be accepted, and the absence is categorized as unexcused. It is solely the responsibility of the legal guardian and the student to present documentation to the designated school authority.

3-Unexcused Absence

(counts in 10 days K-8)
(counts in 5 days 9-12)

 

Prompts credit removal and DA/FINS referral.

Any absence that is not defined in the excused definition.  Unexcused absences are reported for truancy. Students shall be given failing grades in those days missed and shall not be given the opportunity to make-up work.

Not Permitted

***As set by the PPSB Pupil Progression Plan, students and Parents have 5 days from the date of return to present documentation, to become classified as a non-exempted, excused absence or exempted excused absence.

4-Suspension

(Counts in 10 days K-8

when considered for credit removal)

(Counts in 5 days 9-12 when considered for credit removal)

Suspension is considered a non-exempted absence and is not reported for the purposes of truancy; however, the absences are counted as unexcused when considering for the purposes of student promotion.  Excessive suspensions and suspensions that are deemed as serious school violations will be reported to the FINS court system for behavior intervention. 

Permitted   ***As set by the PPSB Pupil Progression Plan, suspended students shall have the opportunity to make up all work as well as exams and receive full credit; it is solely the student’s responsibility to obtain the missed assignments and complete assignments in a reasonable time.  {For example: if a student misses 2 days, he has 2 days to return the missed work} However, course credit may be revoked upon an attendance hearing with the Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance for excessive missed days.

Extenuating Circumstances are as follows:

  1. Extended personal or physical or emotional illness as verified by a physician.
  2. Extended hospital stays as verified by a physician or dentist.
  3. Extended recuperation from an accident as verified by a physician or dentist.
  4. Extended contagious disease within a family as verified by a physician or dentist.
  5. Observance of special and recognized holidays of the student’s own faith.
  6. Visitation with a parent who is a member of the US Armed Forces who has been called to duty or is on leave from an overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting (not to exceed 5 school days per year).
  7. Prior school system approved travel for education.
  8. Death in the immediate family (not to exceed 5 school days per year).
  9. Natural catastrophe and/or disaster.

The following are not excusable:

  1. Truancy
  2. Oversleeping and/or missing a bus that has passed on its route.
  3. Trip not approved by the principal.
  4. Other personal appointments
  5. Shopping
  6. Hunting, Fishing, Trawling
  7. Birthdays or other celebrations

Students who miss more than {10 days classified as Category 1, 3, or 4 in K-8} and {5 days classified as Category 1, 3, or 4 for full credit courses & 2 days classified as Category 1, 3, or 4 for half credit courses in 9-12} will not receive credit for the grade/course.  It is the responsibility of the parent and student to obtain and present documentation to the school and to keep a copy for their records.  As set by the PPSB Pupil Progression Plan, all documentation must be presented within 5 school days from the date of return to be accepted; otherwise, the documentation will not be accepted, and the absences will be counted as unexcused.  Parents and students are responsible for obtaining schoolwork to be made-up. * Attendance is mandated during nine weeks/final exams days.  Exams can only be made up with a verified doctor’s excuse.

Laure Rousselle, Ed.D., M.Ed., MSW, LCSW
Supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance
Plaquemines Parish School Board, WCO