Attendance

Students shall be counted in attendance if they are actually present at school at the time the attendance is taken or are away from school on a school day and engaged in an educational activity that constitutes a part of the school-approved instructional program for the student (Section 1003.23, Florida Statutes).

Good attendance is an extremely important factor in your child’s academic progress.  Please make every effort to be on time every day.  We will send home letters to notify you of your child’s attendance after 3, 5 and 10 days absences.  Meetings will be scheduled to discuss your child’s non-attendance.

*  Excused absences are doctor’s notes, funeral notices or court dates.

*  Please send parent notes explaining absences upon your child returning to school.  This helps the school understand and document the reason for absences.

Truancy

It is the responsibility of the parent and student to make sure that the student attends classes daily and is on time. Any student that has 
at least five (5) unexcused absences, or absences for which reasons are unknown within a calendar month or 10 unexcused absences or
absences for which reasons are unknown, within a 90 calendar day period will be considered truant. The parent needs to provide the
school with an adequate written explanation and appropriate documentation to explain an absence and request makeup assignments
from teachers upon return to school. The assignments need to be completed within three (3) days of each absence. When requesting
make-up work for a sick child, please call early (a.m.) on the second day of absence and teachers will send work to the front office for
pickup by end of the school day.

Students must be in school unless the absence has been excused for one of the reasons listed below. It is the responsibility of the
students parent/guardian to explain the students absence to the school in a manner satisfactory to the principal or assistant
principal. Reasons for excused absences include:
1. Death in the family, or some other insurmountable condition.
2. Documented appointments with health care professionals.
3. Documented absence for religious instruction or religious holidays.
4. Participation in an academic class or school-sponsored activity approved by the principal.
5. Court appearances (copy of subpoena required).

For pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, absences due to other individual circumstances may be excused by the principal prior to
the absence occurring. All other absences are considered unexcused. After the third absence in a nine-week grading period, a
notification letter will be sent home to the parents. Parents will be notified in writing when excessive absences continue
 (Statute 1003.26).

If a pattern of non-attendance continues, parents will be notified to attend a Child Study Team meeting to identify potential remedies
for excessive absences. If reasonable efforts fail, the case will be referred to the Superintendents office for review and possible
referral to Truancy Court or criminal prosecution.

Failure of a student to enter class within 5 minutes after the bell at 8:15 will be considered tardy. Four tardies to the same class will
result in parent notification and administrative referral. Please remember that in order to be eligible for Perfect Attendance a
student must be present all 180 days, all day. Checking out students automatically disqualifies them for perfect attendance. Early
check out is discouraged unless there is a valid reason.