A.H.S. Student Handbook - Attendance Policy

Attendance is required all the days and hours that school is in session.  The Board of Education requires that the students enrolled in the schools of this district attend school regularly in accordance with the laws of the state.  Regularly is defined as being present for all the days and hours that schools are in session.

Definitions

A. Regular attendance - is defined as being present for all classes and activities on his/her individually approved instructional program except as enumerated below

B. Absence from school - is defined as non-attendance in regular classes and assigned locations.  Absence from school is either excused or unexcused.

1. Excused Absence - is defined as absence due to:

• Special reasons approved by an appropriate administrator such as: medical appointments, family emergencies, daytime court appearances, behind-the-wheel driver's test (bring your driver's permit before you take the test), illness certified by medical/dental authorities, suspensions (in or out of school), death in the family.
• Religious holiday.
• Any appropriate school business that cannot be conducted other than at the stipulated time. Examples of appropriate school business:
• Travel and participation time for athletic events, choral and band concerts,
• Class/school trips,
• Meetings/appointments made by Guidance, Child Study Team, Discipline or Attendance Officer.
• Juniors and Seniors will be given excused absences to visit colleges or other post-secondary schools on the following basis: (1) They must have an appointment that could not be made on a weekend, (2) They must present a parental note in advance, (3) They must present a note from the college verifying their appointment upon return to school.
  
  A maximum of three days per academic year will be excused for this reason. All college visits must be pre-approved by the Attendance Office.

2. Unexcused or unexplained absence - is generally defined as any reason not listed above.  Those include personal illness without a doctor's note, shopping, hunting, vacations, working, oversleeping, job interviews, faulty private transportation, hairdresser appointments, personal prom preparations, missing the bus, TV appearances for payment, auditions, photo shoots, horse classes, model assignments, beauty pageants, cheerleading or non-school competitive athletic activities, car racing, etc.

C. Truancy - is defined as failure to report to and remain in school when the parent/guardian is under the impression that you are in school.

A form of truancy - cutting - is defined as unexcused or unexplained absence from class(es) or assigned location(s) while being present for the school day; or selectively cutting class(es) or assigned location(s) as a result of deliberately missing homeroom where the school's official daily attendance is taken.

D. Tardiness - tardiness to class or school is defined as not being in an assigned seat or at an assigned station at the time the bell ceases ringing, indicating the beginning of class.

E. Absence from class - is defined as not having been present for at least 70 minutes of the 85-minute class period.

Rules and Regulations

A. Course credit will be withdrawn if a student's total number of unexcused/unexplained absences exceed 6 days during a semester without attending credit completion or exceeds 15 days.

For administrative purposes, health and physical education and consecutive semester courses will be treated as a full-year course under the Attendance Policy.

B. In order to remain on the rolls of the school, a student must continue to attend a full schedule of classes even when excessive absences have denied that student credit in one or more courses.  In the event a student has lost credit in a course and is also carrying a failing average, the grade of "F" will take precedence over the loss of credit.  If the absences are excessive and are excused, an incomplete may be recorded until all work has been made up.

C. Students absent from school or class(es) for any reason (including field trips, athletics, etc.) are responsible for the completion of the work missed.  (Refer to Make-up Work).

D. Students who are tardy to school, must report to the Attendance Office, Room 606, to sign in and obtain a pass to class.  Students who are excessively tardy may be subject to disciplinary action by the school administration.  Repeated excessive tardiness may result in a parental conference and/or suspension.  An excused tardiness (dentist, doctor, court, driver's tests, etc.) for which a note is submitted to the Attendance Office prior to or upon arrival to school, will not result in disciplinary action.  Students will not be subject to disciplinary action when a parent/guardian signs him/her into school;  however, excessive tardiness will be addressed by the administration.  Students who fail to report to the office upon arrival at school will be subject to disciplinary action.

E. Students who have a medical exemption from their physical education class must attend Study Hall each scheduled Physical Education period.  Failure to attend Study Hall will result in an unexcused absence in Physical Education.

F. Students who are absent unexcused from school for more than half of their scheduled school day are not eligible to participate in any practice, game, meet special program, evening activity, event, or contest scheduled for that day, or that weekend, if the unexcused absence is on a Friday, without the approval of the school administration.

G. Perfect Attendance - To be considered for a perfect attendance award, a student must be physically present each school day.  Absence due to religious holidays will not affect perfect attendance.     

 Attendance Procedures

IT IS THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO BE IN HOMEROOM AND CLASSES.  Pupils absent from school for any reason are responsible for the completion of assignments missed because of their absence.  No student excused for a religious holiday shall be deprived of an award or eligibility to compete for an award or the opportunity to make up a test given on the religious holiday.  When an absence is necessary, the parent or guardian should notify the school of the reason for the student's absence.

Steps to follow when absent from school:

1. Have a parent or guardian phone the Attendance Office at 259-2160, Ext. 410.  That number is on a 24-hour answering system.  Parents may report absences on this number at any time.  Parents should leave the student's name, grade, reason for absence and their telephone number.
2. The parent or guardian must write an explanation of the absence giving name, date, day(s) absent, the reason for absence(s), and a phone number where they can be reached during school hours.
3. Even though a parental note may not be considered as an excused absence under the attendance policy, the note will serve to maintain communication between the home and the school.  These parental notes should be turned in to the Attendance Office.
4. Bring doctors' notes (originals only) which will explain why an absence should be excused, to the Attendance Office as soon as the student enters school.  The Attendance Office will issue an excused admit slip.  Refer to the definition on Page 1 for what constitutes an excused absence.  Please note:  carbon and copies will not be accepted; Fax's must come directly from the doctor's office to the Attendance Office.  Fax number is 609-259-3013.
5. Requests to have an absence excused must be presented to the Attendance Office within 5 days of the student's return to school.
6. Requests to have an absence excused due to a chronic illness must meet the following criteria:
   • Note from doctor indicating chronic condition (original note, not a copy).
   • A parent must call each absence in to the Attendance Office to indicate the absence is due to a chronic condition.  If no call is received, the absence    will be unexcused.
7. Have excused slip signed by all your teachers.  Keep the excused slip for your records.
8. Make immediate plans to do all make-up work due to absence(s).  Your grade will reflect your absences if you do not get work made up.
9. Excessive absenteeism will be dealt with as per Board Policy #505 and the State Law of New Jersey:  NJSA 18A:38-26 indicates that students must attend school "all days and hours that the public schools are in session."  Students 16 years and older who fail to attend school regularly will be subject to possible expulsion.

Parent Notification of Student Absence

Parents are notified daily of any class from which their son/daughter is absent.  Notification is generated by a computer system.  If you feel there has been an error, please call the Attendance Office at 609-259-2160, Ext. 410.

Leaving Early

All students leaving early must bring a note to the Attendance Office in the morning.  No student will be allowed to leave school without having brought a note from his/her parent/guardian to the Attendance Office.  The note must state the reason why the student is leaving early.  The notes should be presented to the office as soon as the student enters school.  All notes should include a phone number where parent/guardian can be reached.  Notes will be verified.  Students who leave early must sign out in the Attendance Office or have the parent/guardian, etc., who is picking them up, sign them out.  Students will not be permitted to sign out for unexcused reasons.  Students 18 years or older are still required to present a parent note to the Attendance Office.  Any student who is leaving early will be given an "early dismissal slip" to present to the teachers.

Prolonged Absences

If you are planning to be absent from school for more than five (5) days due to family vacation plans, a written note is needed at least one (1) week prior to the date of leaving.  The note should be presented to the Attendance Office and then to your teachers.  Your absence(s) will be counted as unexcused.  You will be able to turn in all assignments for credit as long as they are given to your teacher(s) within five (5) days of your return to school.

If you are unable to attend school due to illness, but are able to study at home, call the Guidance Office and assignments will be sent to you.  The Guidance telephone number is 259-2076.  You can also check the teacher's Web page for assignments.

Home instruction is also available with appropriate medical documentation.  Again, the Guidance Office should be contacted to set up a home instruction program if the absence is expected to last more than ten (10) days.

Tardiness to School, Homeroom and Class:

Homeroom is part of the first period class.  If a student arrives to school or 1st period after 7:20 a.m. (regular day), the student is to report to the office for a late slip.  If tardiness is unexcused, the following policy will be implemented.

If a student is late to school and is accompanied by a parent/guardian, the student will be considered late, but will not incur a penalty for the first two times.  If a student arrives to class fifteen or more minutes after class has started, the student will receive an unexcused absence for that class.  In order to be given credit for class attendance, students must be in class by the following times:

Late to School Policy

Every third late - 4 Demerits assigned for Late to School/Defiance and a Friday/Saturday detention.

After the 3rd offense, the student begins the process again.  Each third unexcused lateness will result in four (4) demerits for Late to School/Defiance and a Friday/Saturday detention.

Failure to serve the Friday/Saturday detention will result in the consequences listed for failure to serve Friday/Saturday detention on page 17.

Closing School Due to Inclement Weather

In the event school is closed because of inclement weather, any of the following radio stations will carry the announcement:

You may also check the district Web page for emergency announcements.

Early Dismissal From School Due to Emergency Situations
           
In the event that school must closed early due to inclement weather or other emergency conditions, an announcement will be made from the main office.  Students are to remain in their designated classes until the busses arrive and/or they are dismissed via the P.A. system.

Avenue of Appeal

A. In order to appeal the denial of credit, the student must file written notice of appeal within ten (10) school days of his/her receiving notice that credit has been denied.  The notice should be sent to the Attendance Office and include reasons and documentation which would reduce the number of unexcused/unexplained absences.  NOTE: The administration reserves the right to require additional information and/or refuse to accept a doctor's note or other attendance notes which are submitted more than five (5) days after an absence.

B. If the student/parent is not satisfied with the results gained by the written appeal, written request should be made to the principal to have the Attendance Review Committee meet to consider this appeal.  The Attendance Review Committee shall consist of:  one administrator, one guidance counselor, the attendance officer, teacher(s) of the class(es) affected* and Child Study Team representative*.  *(If deemed necessary by the administrator.)

C.   The parent/guardian and the student will be able to state reasons why the student should not have credits denied because of excessive absenteeism.  The parent/guardian may be questioned by members of the Attendance Review Committee.

D. The members of the Attendance Review Committee will vote on whether to continue to deny credit of the course(s).  The administrative member of the committee will vote only if there is a tie.  The final decision will rest with the building principal or his designee.

E. If the decision is to allow the student to continue to work towards credit in the course(s) - or to be awarded credit depending on whether the course(s) are completed - then the administrative representative will establish the conditions under which the student may continue.  A written contract may be drawn up allowing for no more than two (2) additional unexcused/unexplained absences.  The contract would be signed by the administrator, parent/guardian, student and Attendance Officer.  Each will receive a copy of the contract.  The Attendance Officer will notify the high school principal, parent/guardian and student when/if the terms of the contract have been violated.

F. If the decision is to continue to withhold credit for course(s) the student may use the standard student appeal procedure beginning with the Superintendent of schools.

G. A student who is denied credit for a course but still receives a passing grade will be granted the opportunity to regain the credit(s) which were lost be attending credit completion school.  The Attendance Office will inform the student of the number of days the student will be required to attend in order to regain credit.

In no case will a student be given the opportunity to attend credit completion school if the number of unexcused/unexplained absences from class exceeds 15 days for a full semester course.  Credit for course(s) would then be lost.  Students who have between 7 and 15 days of unexcused/unexplained absence will be allowed to attend Credit Completion.

H. Any senior who is close to the limit or over his or her days in unexcused absences will be able to fulfill credit completion requirements on two Saturdays at the end of the first semester in February and two Saturdays at the end of the second semester in June*.  If Seniors owe more hours of Credit Completion than can be completed on the two Saturdays in June, they will be required to do Credit Completion in July.  They will be permitted to participate in graduation if they attend both Senior Credit Completion Saturdays, but not receive their diplomas until they complete their hours owed in Credit Completion in July.  All other underclassmen will be able to do Credit Completion during the summer.  This will be possible for a maximum of nine class periods. 

I. There will be an academic requirement for all students in credit completion.

*Diplomas will not be issued in June until all credit completion is fulfilled.