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6000 R&P |
ATTENDANCE |
6000 R&P |
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School attendance is important to
school success. The |
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6000.1 |
Detailed laws, regulations, and
policies concerning compulsory school attendance are found in School Attendance
and Student Accounting, North Carolina Department of
Public Instruction, Division of School Business
Services. Specific procedures related to the compulsory attendance law are
available through the Office of Counseling and Student Services. |
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6000.2 |
Official school activities include
field trips sponsored by the school, school-initiated and scheduled
activities, athletic events that require early dismissal with prior approval
of the principal, governor or legislative pages, and in-school suspension. |
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6000.3 |
A. |
An absence is excused if the following conditions exist: A student is unable to attend school when the student or his/her child
is ill, injured, has a medical appointment, or is isolated by order of the
State Board of Health or the Wake County Health Department. The principal shall require written
documentation from the parent, guardian, emancipated student, or doctor, of
the reason the student was absent. At the principal's discretion, other
family illness may be accepted as an excused absence. Emancipated students
are those that are eighteen (18), married, or emancipated by court order. A
principal may allow students under eighteen (18) who
do not live at home, to write their own absence notes if the parent gives
written consent. |
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B. |
Death in the family. |
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C. |
A student who is called to court under subpoena or court order is to
receive an excused absence. If the student is called to court because they
are being charged with an offense, they should receive an excused absence for
the time in court. |
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D. |
Religious observance, as suggested by the religion of the student or
the student’s parents. |
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E. |
An absence may be excused in advance for educational reasons. The
parent must complete the form #1710 "Request for Excused Absence for
Educational Reasons." By signing the document, the parent assures the
school that the absence meets the requirements of the law for excused
absences. The law provides principals with the latitude to determine when the
cumulative effects of such absences are of such
duration as to interfere with the education of the student. |
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F. |
A student is unable to attend school due to a catastrophic event or
natural disaster. |
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6000.4 |
Absences not classified as excused in 6000.3 are unexcused. Parents
shall be notified when their child has accumulated three unexcused absences.
Parents shall be notified in writing when their child has accumulated six
unexcused absences ( Form 1700). |
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6000.5 |
Schools shall establish and
communicate to students and parents their procedures for making up work
following an unexcused absence.
Make-up work shall be graded at a standard consistent with the
original work. Credit equivalent to
not less than 70% of the original value of the work shall be awarded for
make-up work completed within the school’s established procedures. In making
final determinations about credit, the procedures should take into
account the following: |
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A. |
The past performance of the
student, |
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B. |
Circumstances that
may have made the unexcused absence unavoidable, |
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C. |
Unusual family
circumstances, |
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D. |
Nature of the
specific learning activity, |
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E. |
Other issues that the teacher
determines to be relevant to the situation. |
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Absences resulting from
out-of-school suspensions are considered unexcused, and the same policy for
make-up work applies. Full credit must
be given for quarter, semester or grading period examinations in the case of
short-term suspensions. |
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6000.6 |
School work will be made up for excused absences under the following
conditions: |
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A. |
If the absence is approved in
advance and/or if the work is assigned by the teacher in advance, all make-up
work, including tests assigned for the day of return, is due upon the
student's return to school. Teachers should use discretion and may make
exceptions in the case of students whose excused absences were not planned in
advance, were beyond the student’s control, and the nature of which would not
support make-up work the day of return (e.g., death in the immediate family,
serious illness). |
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B. |
If the make-up work has not been
assigned in advance, for absences of one (1) to three (3) days, the student
will have one day for each day absent. For absences exceeding three (3) days,
the student may have two (2) days for each day absent to make up work. Special consideration should be given in the
case of extended absences due to injury or chronic illness. |
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C. |
The student is responsible for
securing make-up work at the secondary level. At the elementary level, the
teacher is responsible for assigning make-up work. |
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6000.7 |
When an elementary student exceeds
the thirty (30) absence limit, an attendance committee will determine if the
student should be retained because of absences. The committee may substitute
summer school experiences for retention if they determine summer experiences
are of greater educational value than retention. The decision to retain or to
substitute other experiences will be based on the child's educational needs. |
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6000.8 |
At the secondary level, teachers
shall notify the principal's designee when absences from an individual class
reach at least three (3) in a block course (seven (7) in a semester course or
at least fifteen (15) in a full-year year course). In elementary schools the
teacher shall inform the principal when the child accumulates at least
twenty-five (25) absences. The principal shall, in turn, notify parents or
guardians, in writing, that the total number of absences is approaching the
maximum allowed under this policy. |
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6000.9 |
At the secondary level, teachers
shall notify the principal when absences from an individual class reach at
least five (5) in a block course (ten (10) in a full-year course). The principal shall in turn initiate
interventions, based upon the school-developed attendance plan, to help
improve the attendance of the student.
Interventions will be expectations-based and involve parents. Teachers shall notify the principal when
absences reach ten (10) in a block course (twenty (20) in a full-year course). At this point, the school plan for dealing
with accumulated absences will be initiated for each student. |
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6000.10 |
Appeals of the school decisions,
with regard to attendance, will follow normal procedures outlined in the
student grievance process. |
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6000.11 |
The principal may waive the
school-based decisions that result from a student’s violation of the
attendance policy after decisions have been made. |
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6000.12 |
A student with a chronic health
problem will not be held accountable to the attendance policy if absences are
excused. Documentation of chronic
health problems must be provided in writing. |
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