Attendance Policy

Student attendance is both a right and a responsibility. The District is an active partner with students and parents in the task of ensuring that all students meet or exceed the New York State Learning Standards. The District recognizes that consistent school attendance, academic success, and school completion have a positive correlation and that all three affect future employment and success. Therefore, the District has developed a Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy to meet the following objectives to:

• Increase school completion for all students;

• Raise student achievement and close gaps in student performance;

• Identify attendance patterns to design attendance improvement efforts;

• Know the whereabouts of every student for safety and other reasons;

• Verify that individual students are complying with education laws relating to compulsory attendance;

• Include parent participation and involvement in the Student Attendance Policy;

• Determine the District’s average daily attendance for state aid purposes.

The District will:

• Strive to create and maintain a positive school building culture in each building;

• Develop a Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy;  

• Maintain accurate recordkeeping;

• Use data analysis for tracking student attendance;

• Develop early intervention strategies to improve school attendance.

Based on our District’s education and community needs, values, and priorities, the District has determined that absences, tardiness, and early departures will be considered “excused” or “unexcused” according to the following standards:

• Excused: Personal illness, illness or death in the family, impassable roads due to inclement weather, religious observance, quarantine, required court appearances, medical appointments, approved college visits, approved cooperative work programs, military obligations, administratively-approved school-sponsored activities, or other such extraordinary reasons as approved by the administration;

• Unexcused: An absence, tardiness, or early departure, the reason for which does not fall into any of the above categories (e.g., family vacation, hunting, babysitting, haircut, obtaining learner’s permit to drive, road test, oversleeping).

The District encourages parents, whenever possible, to schedule outside appointments for their children before or after school hours. All absences require a written note, including the date and reason for absence, from the parent/person in parental relation within a reasonable amount of time to be determined by the building principal. Parental notification for student tardiness or early departure will be presented on the day of the tardiness/early departure, indicating the date, time, and reason. Excuses may be verified for authenticity.

Parents may contact the school or teacher to obtain assignments for their child who has or is expected to have an excused absence for two or more consecutive school days. A 24-hour turn-around time is needed by the school to assemble the assignments. Once back in school, a student is expected to work with his/her teachers to complete makeup work.

The record of each student’s presence, absence, tardiness, and early departure shall be kept daily. Any absence, tardiness, or early departure will be entered as “excused” or “unexcused” along with the District code for the reason. For students in grades seven through twelve, attendance will be taken for each period of instruction; the record of attendance will appear on the report card for each period of instruction.

The District believes that classroom participation is related to and affects a student’s performance and grasp of the subject matter and, as such, is properly reflected in a student’s final grade. For the purposes of this policy, classroom participation means that a student is in class and prepared to work. Consequently, for each marking period a certain percentage of a student’s final quarterly grade will be based on classroom participation as well as the student’s performance on homework, tests, papers, projects, etc., as determined by the building administrator and/or classroom teacher.

At all grade levels, a student must be in attendance a minimum of 85% of the total school days. At the K-6 level, parents can expect that excessive absences will be reflected in the student’s grades.  

Individual building handbooks will detail other sanctions.

At the high school level, the 85% requirement means that:

• In a full-year, one-credit course, a student must not be absent from class more than 28 days;

• In a half-year, one-half credit course, a student must not be absent from class for more than 14 days;

• In physical education and health courses, a student must not be absent from class more than 14 times per semester;

• In courses with scheduled labs, e.g., science classes, a student must not be absent from class/lab for more than 38 class periods;

• Absence (lateness or early departure) from class for more than 50% of class time will be considered a full period of absence.

Once a student exceeds the attendance standards in any course as specified above, he/she will not take any remaining exams/tests or submit papers, projects, etc. for grades necessary to receive credit for that course regardless of the student’s performance on prior tests, exams, or other graded work. The student shall continue to attend the class unless suspended; if he/she drops the class, he/she will not be eligible to retake the class in summer school. 

For District-approved summer school, the 85% minimum attendance requirement is also mandated; in addition, transfer students and students re-enrolling after having dropped out will be expected to attend a prorated 85% attendance of the scheduled class meetings.

Students who are absent due to an excused absence will be allowed to make up missed school work due to an excused absence. The teacher will determine the time and place of the make-up.

Excused absences are defined in the section titled, Determination of Excused/Unexcused Absences.

It is the responsibility of the student to contact the teacher to make arrangements to make up work missed due to an excused absence. It is not the teacher’s responsibility to seek out the student. 

Parents/persons in parental relation and students will be informed of the District’s policy regarding minimum attendance and course credit. Additionally, students will be informed of intervention strategies to be utilized prior to the denial of course credit for insufficient attendance.

In accordance with the Commissioner’s Regulations and to encourage student attendance, the District will develop and implement grade-appropriate building-level strategies and programs.

Unexcused absences, tardiness, and early departures will result in disciplinary actions as described in the District’s Code of Conduct. Individual buildings will address procedures to implement parental notification.

In order to effectively intervene when an identified pattern of unexcused absences, tardiness, or early departures occur, designated District personnel will pursue a series of intervention strategies to help the student improve school attendance.

Each building’s student handbook will detail the Comprehensive Student Attendance Policy (LCSD Policy #7110) as it pertains to that building’s procedures.