JCBE/POLICY FILE: 441
Approved: 6/20/74
Revised: 4/28/77
Revised: 5/29/81
Revised: 4/22/99
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
A. ATTENDANCE
All persons between the ages of seven and sixteen years of age are required by state law to attend school for the minimum number of scholastic days prescribed by the State Board of Education. All laws regarding school attendance shall be strictly enforced by the Jefferson County Board of Education.
All students must attend school or must be instructed privately unless the student holds a certificate of exemption. In accordance with state law a student in the following categories may obtain a certificate of exception by the superintendent of the Jefferson
County Board of Education:
1. A person whose physical or mental condition prevents attendance or makes attendance inadvisable. Such physical or mental incapacities must be certified by the county health officer or a licensed, practicing physician.
2. A person 16 years of age or older.
3. A person who has completed the course of study of the public schools of the state as now constituted.
4. A student who lives more than two and one-half miles from a public school where lack of transportation would require that the student walk to school.
5. A person who is legally and regularly employed under the provisions of child labor laws and who holds a permit to work under the terms of child labor laws.
Any student not holding a certificate shall be required to attend school.
Parents are legally responsible for ensuring that their children either attend school as prescribed above or in state law or that they are otherwise exempt. Any parent who does not comply with compulsory attendance laws may be subject to criminal prosecution.
B. SCHOOL ABSENCES
Regular school attendance is imperative to each child's educational progress.
Accordingly, each student is expected to attend school every day school is in session.
The Board recognizes that absence from school is sometimes necessary but absences from school will only be allowed for good and justifiable reasons.
C. WRITTEN EXPLANATION FOR ALL ABSENCES REQUIRED
Every student who is absent from school must present to the school principal or his designee a written explanation for the absence. A parent may request from the principal permission for a student to be absent prior to the date of the absence. Any student who is absent and who did not receive permission before the absence, must submit a written explanation of the absence from the parent, guardian or other person having control of the student to school officials upon the student's return to school.
The principal will have the opportunity to review the written permission request or the written explanation for the absence to determine whether the absence shall be excused or unexcused. The following are considered permissible reasons to have an absence excused:
a. Student Illness
b. Inclement weather which makes it dangerous for student to attend school
c. Legal quarantine
d. Death in the immediate family
e. Emergency condition as determined by the principal or superintendent
f. Absence to observe traditional religious holidays of a local, national or international origin when verified by the student's minister or religious leader
Any absence not falling into the categories listed above or otherwise excused by the principal or the superintendent or his designee will be unexcused.
D. EXCESSIVE ABSENCES
Any student who accumulates excessive absences in any course will not receive credit for that particular course. In the block schedule program, a student may not exceed five
(5) absences per term. In non-block schedule programs, a student may not exceed eighteen (18) absences per year. If the maximum number of absences is exceeded, credit for that course may be allowed only if the superintendent or his designee determines that the excessive absences were due to medical reasons as certified in writing by a licensed physician. Moreover, in such cases the superintendent or his designee may require additional documentation relating to absences and may require the student to make arrangements for alternative educational instructions through a Board recognized program. All decisions of the superintendent shall be final.
E. MAKEUP WORK
A student shall have the opportunity to make up examinations or work which occurred during an excused absence. Makeup work must be completed as soon as possible after returning to school. It shall be the responsibility of the student or student's parents or guardian to arrange with each teacher to make up work. A teacher may require the student to make up work after school hours, in which case advance notice will be given to allow the student to arrange for necessary transportation.