Irregular attendance and tardiness by students not only slows their progress, but also interferes with the progress of those who are regular and prompt in attendance. The board and faculty of the Carroll Community School District consider regular attendance highly important and have established the following policy to deal with student absence and tardiness in the middle school and the high school.

ABSENCE (MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL)

1. The following absences will be excused, providing the excuse has been provided by the parent or guardian in advance of the absence, or at the time of personal illness:
   1. Personal illness
   2. Family death or emergency
   3. Medical appointments which must be made during school time.
   4. Court appearance if validated by the assigned time on the ticket and the appearance is validated by the Clerk of the Magistrate Court and/or District Court.
   5. College visits with recommendation of the counselor and three days prior approval. Parent-teacher conference days and semester break days should be used when possible for these visits.
   6. Family trips and other extended absences which can be justified from an educational standpoint. These must be approved by the principal/designee well in advance and arrangements made with each teacher involved for the make-up of work to be missed.
   7. School initiated absence (no parent excuse required).
2. Following an excused absence the student will be responsible for contacting teachers to complete all work not previously made up. Make up work timeline is outlined in the Student Handbook. After ten (10) consecutive excused absences, a parent conference will be held to discuss educational planning.
3. The following absences will be treated as unexcused:
   1. Any absence not properly excused before the occurrence, or at the time in the case of personal illness. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school if a student is to be absent and the absence is to be excused. However, to satisfy a mutual concern of parents/guardians and the school for the welfare of unaccounted-for students, the office will contact the parent/guardian should a student be found absent for whom no parent/guardian excuse has been received. This call will be to confirm the whereabouts of the student.
   2. Work for parent/guardian or an employer.
   3. Haircuts
   4. Oversleeping
   5. Car trouble
   6. Shopping trips
   7. Leaving the building during the day without parental excuse and authorization of the principal's office.
   8. Senior pictures
   9. Absence for tournament games not approved by the school principal/designee or his/her designee.
   10. Obtain drivers’ license or permit.

HIGH SCHOOL

1. Following the first unexcused absence from a class(es) during a calendar year:
   1. The student will be assigned a 45-minute detention for one period, 90 minutes for two periods and Saturday School for anything beyond two periods. This may be waived if there is a parent/guardian contact for the absence in advance and, though unexcused, it is for something that cannot be done outside of school time.
   2. The student and his/her parent/guardian will be contacted to review school policy and procedure.
   3. Truant students will not be given credit for work in the class during the unexcused absence, but may be required by the teacher to complete it as part of the class requirements.
2. Following the second unexcused absence from class(es):
   1. The student will be assigned a 90-minute detention for one period, and Saturday school for more than one period missed. This will not be waived.
   2. A conference between the student, the student's parent/guardian, and an administrator or counselor will be held.
   3. Truant students will not be given credit for work missed in the class during the unexcused absence, but may be required to complete it as part of the requirements.
3. Following the third unexcused absence:
   1. If the absence results in the third unexcused period from any class the student may be removed from the class with loss of credit and assigned to study hall. The parent/guardian shall be given proper notification that all credit for the class(es) has been lost.
4. Missing a class while being elsewhere in the building without the authorization of a teacher or skipping a study hall will result in the assignment of 90 minutes of detention.
5. If a student accumulates a total of 10 absences (excused or unexcused) per semester from any class, a conference with parents/guardians, student, teachers, and principal/designee may be requested by the principal/designee to determine if the student is progressing well enough to justify continuation in the class.
6. Tardiness
   1. The only tardiness that will be excused will be that from being detained by another teacher (in which case the detaining teacher will issue a late pass) or because of a late bus.
   2. To provide for those cases where being late is unavoidable there will be no penalty assessed for the first instance of tardiness each semester.
   3. On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tardies, the student will have to make up 45 minutes of detention.
   4. For the 5th, 6th, and 7th tardies, the student will be assigned 90 minutes of detention, and the parents/guardians will be contacted.
   5. For each tardy beyond 7 Saturday school will be assigned for each succeeding tardy.
   6. Parents/guardians will be notified by mail of any detention assigned.
7. ​​​​​​​Detention
   1. The detention room will be open Tuesday through Friday mornings from 7:25 to 8:10 and Monday through Thursday afternoons from 3:25 to 4:10.
   2. Students must arrive during the first five minutes. After that time, the door will close and there will be no admittance.
   3. All detentions will be assigned and made up in 45 minute segments.
   4. Students will have four scheduled detention sessions to make up assigned detention after it has been issued.
   5. A student who fails to make up an assigned detention will be assigned Saturday School.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

1. Following an unexcused absence:
   1. All work must be made up the day the student returns to school. Credit will be granted for work made up.
   2. Following the first unexcused absence the student will be assigned a 90 minute detention (45 minutes if only one period is missed).
   3. Following the second unexcused absence greater than 90 minutes, a student will be placed on in-school suspension for 1/2 day.
   4. A third unexcused absence will result in a one-day in-school suspension. Parents/guardians will be required to meet with the principal/designee and truant officer to develop an attendance plan before the student returns to class.
   5. Parents/guardians will be notified by mail or phone of any unexcused absence from school.
2. Tardiness
   1. The only tardiness that will be excused will be that from being detained by another teacher (in which case the detaining teacher will issue a late pass) or because of a late bus. Being over 30 minutes late will be considered the same as an unexcused absence.
   2. To provide for those cases where being late is unavoidable, there will be no penalty assessed for the first three instances of tardiness each semester. Following the third tardy and each succeeding tardy up to six in a semester, a student will have to make up 45 minutes of detention. Following the sixth tardy in a semester, a parent conference may be held to develop a behavior modification plan that will encourage more prompt attendance.
3. Detention

• Detention may be assigned to students by any school employee for conduct, which is inappropriate, disruptive, uncooperative, or for refusal to follow the accepted rules of the school.
  1. All detention assignments will be in multiples of 45 minutes.
  2. The detention slip is completed in triplicate and signed by the student. This signature is to confirm that the student has received the assignment, not an indication that the student agrees or disagrees with the assignment.
  3. Parent communication will be made by either the student or the principal/designee.
  4. Detention is to be completed after school on the school day it is assigned. The principal/designee may excuse a student from serving a detention the same day it is assigned ONLY if parents/guardians have provided an acceptable excuse and have made arrangements for their student to serve the detention the following day.

Date of Adoption/Revision:
August 1984
August 12, 1985
September 15, 1986
August 10, 1987
August 8, 1988
July 26, 1989
August 21, 1990
July 22, 1991
August 1994
August 1997
August 2000
July 2003
July 2006
July 2009
July 2010
September 2012
August 2014
August 2015

Irregular attendance and tardiness by students not only slows their progress, but also interferes with the progress of those who are regular and prompt in attendance. The district realizes that a student's limited academic success may be the cause of attendance problems. This policy sets the following expectations for student attendance policies and rules.

1. ABSENCE
   1. The following absences will be excused, providing the excuse has been provided by the parent or guardian in advance of the absence, or at the time of personal illness, or by the next school day:
      1. Personal illness
      2. Family death or emergency
      3. Medical appointments which must be made during school time.
      4. Court appearance if validated by the assigned time on the ticket and the appearance is validated by the Clerk of the Magistrate Court and/or District Court.
      5. Family trips and other extended absences which can be justified from an educational standpoint. These must be approved by the principal/designee well in advance and arrangements made with each teacher involved for the make-up of work to be missed.
      6. School initiated absence (no parent excuse required).​​​​​​​
   2. The following absences will be treated as unexcused:
      1. Any absence not properly excused before the occurrence, or at the time in the case of personal illness. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school if a student is to be absent and the absence is to be excused. However, to satisfy a mutual concern of parents/guardians and the school for the welfare of unaccounted-for students, the office will contact parents/guardians should a student be found absent for whom no parent excuse has been received. This call will be to confirm the whereabouts of the student.
      2. Leaving the building during the day without parental excuse and authorization of the principal's office.
   3. ​​​​​​​UNEXCUSED ABSENCE
      1. Following the first unexcused absence from a class(es) during a calendar year,
         1. The student and his/her parent/guardian will be contacted to review school policy and procedure.
         2. Truant students will not be given credit for work in the class during the unexcused absence, but may be required by the teacher to complete it as part of the class requirements.
      2. Following the second unexcused absence from class(es):
         1. ​​​​​​​A conference between the student, the student's parent/guardian, and an administrator or counselor will be held.
         2. Truant students will not be given credit for work missed in the class during the unexcused absence, but may be required to complete it as part of the requirements.
2. TARDINESS

Tardies are unexcused absences that are 30 minutes or less in nature. Up to three tardies will be given without penalty per school year. After the third tardy, parents/guardians will be notified and a meeting will be held between the principal/designee and the parent/guardian. An attempt to resolve the tardy issue will be made. Unexcused tardies beyond four will be considered truant. These cases will be referred to the County Attorney for mediation or prosecution.

Date of Adoption/Revision:
August 1997
August 2000
July 2003
July 2006
July 2009
July 2010
September 2012
August 2015