ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students who have good attendance achieve high grades, enjoy school more and are much more attractive to prospective employers after leaving high school. In fact, many employers consider good attendance to be as important as good grades and the Missouri State Department of Education is encouraging employers to check on this before hiring people.  Frequent absences from regular classroom learning experience disrupts the continuity of the instructional process for everyone.

1. The benefit of regular classroom instruction is lost and cannot be entirely regained, even by extra instruction or make-up work.
2. Make-up work takes teacher time that would otherwise be spent with regular instruction thereby cheating other students of learning opportunities.

Admit Slips and Daily Absences

1.  See Semester Absences below.

2. When a student returns to school after an absence, he or she must present a written statement signed by a parent or guardian indicating the parents are aware of the absence.  A phone call by the parent to the school will eliminate the need for a note.  He or she must obtain an admit slip at the Middle School office window before being admitted to class.   These slips should be picked up as soon as the student arrives at school.  If a student is late to class because they are getting an admit slip, it will usually result in an unexcused tardy.  It is the students responsibility to see that each teacher whose class they have missed signs the admit slip.  A student who misses five days consecutively without contacting the school will automatically be dropped from the attendance roll and reported to the State Department of Education as a drop-out.  A student will only be allowed to re-enter once without Board approval.

Make-Up Work

Except for special cases approved by the Principal, the amount of time allowed for making up work missed during absences will be the same as the amount of time missed.  A student will be required to take tests scheduled and announced prior to a period of absence on the day he or she returns to school.  Tests scheduled and announced during a student’s absence will be treated the same as other make-up assignments.

Students must assume the initiative in asking for make-up assignments and seeing that they are completed within the allotted time. Should the student fail to contact the teacher(s) and make arrangements for work missed, or fail to make up missed assignments in the allotted time, a percentage grade of zero shall be recorded by the teacher(s) and the teacher(s) shall be absolved of any responsibility for the student’s negligence in this matter.  Teachers may request that the student stay after school to do make-up work since doing it during the regular day can cause the teacher to neglect regular classroom instruction.

SEMESTER ABSENCES

Six (6) Semester Limit

Students that are absent more than six (6) days per semester will receive no credit for each class in which they are absent more than six (6) days per semester.   Students that do not qualify for professionally approved exemptions listed below may be dropped from the rolls of Blue Eye R-V School.

Exception To Six (6) Day Limit

The following absences will be subtracted from the 6 day limit:

1.  WRITTEN verification (must include date of visit and signature of physician) by a physician or dentist that the student was under their care

2. If an immediate family member was hospitalized, written verification from the hospital that the student was present will meet the exemption.

3.  Required attendance at a legal proceeding, written verification (this must include date of proceeding and signature from court official) from a judge or court officer will meet the exemption.

4.  All other absences will be unexcused.

Written Notices Given:

1. On the 3^rd and 5^th  absence, a letter will be sent home

                notifying the parent or guardian of the student’s absences. 

2. After the 6^th absence, an appeals letter will be sent to

                the parent informing them of appeal procedures.

Attendance Appeals Procedure     

No attendance policy can cover all circumstances.  Therefore an appeals process is necessary for extenuating circumstances.  Students who exceed the maximum number of absences have the option of appearing with their parents/guardians before the Absentee Review Board consisting of the building principal, counselor, one board member and two teachers.

The Review Board will consider the reasons for the excess absences and decide whether a special exemption is warranted.  An appeal may be made to the Board regarding the decision.