ATTENDANCE
Regular attendance is essential to a student’s success in school. Persistent absenteeism or tardiness creates a genuine hardship for the student and is regarded as a very serious problem. To improve attendance and decrease truancy, The Court of Common Pleas - Division of Juvenile Court is working with Richland County Schools. All attendance is done in minutes and hours, per HB 410. Every minute counts!
To excuse a student’s absence:
The parent or guardian must notify the school by 10:00 a.m. on the day of the student’s absence. If the attendance office does not have a call excusing your child before 10:00 a.m. you will receive a phone call that your child is showing as an unexcused absence.
A note or a doctor’s excuse can be sent in with the student on the day of their return. All excuses need to be given to the attendance office within 24 hours of returning to school. You can also leave messages on the school’s voicemail, which is in service at all times.
The parent or guardian must send a doctor’s excuse to school after three (3) consecutive days of absence.
Students arriving late to school or leaving school for a doctor/dentist appointment will need a note from doctor/dentist to have their tardy or absence excused. Tardy students must report to the office upon arrival to school.
Students who need to leave school early, must have a call to the office before arriving at the school to pick up their child.
A student who leaves school or is not in class without permission, is considered truant.
A student will have an absence EXCUSED upon notifying the school for the following reasons:
Religious holiday
Death in family
Personal illness (a medical statement may be required)
Family vacation (with prior approval of school authorities)
Emergencies (approved by school authorities)
Quarantine due to exposure or having COVID-19
Students who reach the following absences may expect the following notices:
12 Hours unexcused: You will receive a warning letter, which is just that….a warning.
30 Hours unexcused: You and your child will receive a letter stating that you are being referred to participate in the Truancy Intervention Meeting; which takes place at the building level.
48 Hours unexcused: Parents and students will be required to attend an Unofficial Hearing at Juvenile Court.
60 Hours unexcused: If your student has been absent for 60 Hours (excused and unexcused) during the school school year he/she will be deemed to be placed on Medical Status. Medical Status requires a doctor’s excuse for any additional absences to be excused. The excuse must state the date of the doctor visit as well as the return to school date.
65 Hours of absences: Any absence that is not excused by a doctor will be calculated. At that point, a letter will be sent stating your child has an excessive amount of absences. This is a state mandate per HB 410. ALL excuses except for doctors excuses count into this hourly number.
72 Hours unexcused in a year, 30 consecutive unexcused hours or 42 unexcused hours in a month: The parent/guardian could have charges of Failure to Send or Adult Contributing filed upon them.
By working together, we can eliminate excessive absences and provide quality education for your student.
ILLNESS GUIDELINES: General guidelines for keeping your child home from school due to an illness.