Attendance Policies

Grundy County School Board Attendance Policies

Attendance: Getting your child to school on time, every day, unless they are sick, is something that you can do to ensure your child has a chance to succeed in school. While others can help, you are the bottom line. You can promote good attendance. The PowerSchool system is the easiest, most effective and most accurate source of keeping up with your student's attendance. If you need assistance accessing the PowerSchool system, reach out to your school's secretary. Contanct Attendance Supervisor Valerie Sitz Nunley at (931) 692-3467 if you have questions regarding attendance policies or expectations.

Managing Absences: 

-Send a note or doctor's excuse to school when your child returns to school.
-Excuses for absences must be received at the school no later than three (3) days after the student returns to school. This policy will be strictly enforced. All doctor's excuses and parent notes will be dated and signed by the school when received and parents are encouraged to request a copy of the dated excuse from the school office for their personal records.
-All excuse notes must be sigend by the parent(s)/guardian(s). The note should clearly state the name of the student, the reason for absence, and a phone number so that the school official can confirm the excuse with the parent or guardian.
-All excuses must be presented before school starts in the morning. Notes from professionals should clearly state the period of time the student was required to be absent from school and not simply that the student was seen in the office.
-In the event the student has an excused absence, they will make up any class work or test missed on the day of the excused absence within three (3) days after returning to school. -It is the student's responsibility to ask for the make up work. Example: student misses on Monday and returns to classes on Tuesday; make up work will be due on Friday.
-No call in excuses will be permitted.
-No faxed doctor/dentist excuses will be permited.
-Absences accumulate from the beginning of school until the last day of school.

Unexcused Absence is defined as an absence without:

A doctor/dentla excuse signed by the doctor/dentist.
-A parent note (3 parent notes are allowed per semester)
-Please note: any work missed from an unexcused absence will be counted as zeros. Students will not be permitted to complete make up work due to unexcused absences.

Excused Absence is defined as:

-Doctor/dental excuse (signed by the doctor/dentist)
-A parent note (3 per semester) can be used to excuse a day, an early dismissal, or a tardy.
-Notification of a death in the immediate family (parent/guardian or sibling), three (3) days.
-Child with head lice, two (2) days.

All excuses must be turned in within three (3) days of returning to school.

Tardies or Early Dismissals:

-Any combination of three (3) tardies or early checkouts will result in one (1) day of absence.
-Once a student has been to court for Truancy, a petition to court will be filed after five (5) unexcused days.

Please refer to School Board Policy 6.200

Truancy Policy

Annually, the Director of Schools/designee will provide written notice to parent(s)/guardian(s) that attendance at school is required. Students shall be present at least fifty percent (50%) of the scheduled school day in order to be counted present. Students may attend part time days, alternating days, or for a specific amount of time as indicated in their Individualized Education Plan or 504 Plan and shall be considered present for school attendance purposes. If a student is required to participate in a remedial instruction program outside of the regular school day where there is no cost to the parent(s)/guardian(s) and the school system provides transportation, unexcused absences from these programs shall be reported in the same manner.

A student who is absent five (5) days without an adequate excuse shall be reported to the Director of Schools/designee who will, in turn, provide a written notice to the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the student's absence. If a parent does not provide documentation within three (3) days excusing those absences, or request an attendance hearing, then the Director of Schools shall implement the progressive truancy intervention plan described below prior to referral to juvenile court.

Progressive Truancy Intervention Plan: 

Prior to referral to juvenile court, the following progressive truancy intervention plan will be implemented.

Tier I: 

-A conference with the student and the student's parent(s)/guardian(s)
-An attendance contract, based on the conference, signed by the student, the parent(s)/guardian(s), and an attendance supervisor or designee
-Guidance counselors will follow up with students after the Truancy Review Meeting

The contract shall include:

-A specific description of the school's attendance expectations for the student
-The period for which the contract is effective
-Penalties for additional absences and alleged school offenses, including additional disciplinary action and potential referral to juvenile court

Tier II: 

-If a student accumulates additional unexcused absences in violation of the attendance contract in Tier I, the student will be subject to Tier II.

-Under this tier, a school employee shall conduct an individualized assessment detailing the reasons a student has been absent from school. The employee may refer the student to counseling, community based services, or other services to address the student's attendance problems.

Tier III: 

-This tier shall be implemented if the truancy interventions under Tier II are unsuccessful.

-These interventions shall be determined by a team formed at each school. The interventions shall address student needs in an age appropriate manner. Finalized plans shall be approved by the Director of Schools/designee.