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515 Attendance of Classes and Instructional Time

Attendance is required of all students in all regularly scheduled classes and instructional time.  Attendance for continuous remote learning is required as included in the District's Return-to-Learn Plan, in consideration of age and content area, understanding that some work is done without synchronous computer connection.  The superintendent shall, in cooperation with the school administration, staff, parents/guardians, and students, prepare rules and regulations to implement this policy.

Elementary School Attendance

The Board and faculty of the Knoxville Community School District consider regular attendance highly important and have established the following policy to deal with student absence and tardiness in the elementary school(s).

 

I.  Absences

  1. The following absences will be excused, providing the excuse has been provided by the parent or guardian in advance of the absence, or at the time of personal illness or by the next school day:
    1. Personal illness;
    2. Family death or emergency;
    3. Quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19 or immediate family member quarantine due to such exposure. However, if participation in continuous remote learning is appropriate during the quarantine, attendance will be in compliance with the district's Return-to-Learn Plan and will not be counted as an absence.
    4. Medical appointments that must be made during school time;
    5. Court appearance if validated by the assigned time on the ticket, and the appearance is validated by the Clerk of the Magistrate Court and/or District Court.
    6. Family trips and other extended absences which can be justified from an educational standpoint.  These must be approved by the principal well in advance and arrangements made with each teacher involved for the make-up of work to be missed.
    7. School initiated absence (no parent excuse required).
  2. The following absences will be treated as unexcused:
    1. Any absence not properly excused before the occurrence, or at the time in the case of personal illness.  It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school if a student is to be absent and the absence is to be excused.  However, to satisfy a mutual concern of parents/guardians and the school for the welfare of unaccounted-for students, the office will contact parent/guardian should a student be found absent for whom no parent/guardian excuse has been received.  This call will be to confirm the whereabouts of the student but will be considered after the fact for attendance purposes and will not be considered excused if the school has to call to find a student;
    2. Leaving the building during the day without parental excuse and authorization of the principal's office;

II.  Tardiness

  1. Tardies are unexcused absences that are thirty (30) minutes or less in nature.  Up to three (3) tardies will be given without penalty per school year.  After the third (3) tardy, parents/guardians will be notified and a meeting will be held between the principal and the parent/guardian.  An attempt to resolve the tardy issue will be made. 
  2. Unexcused tardies beyond four (4) will be considered truant.  Those children who are truant and have accumulated fifteen (15) unexcused absences during a three-year period will be considered in violation of the state's mandatory attendance laws.  These cases will be referred to the County Attorney for mediation or prosecution.

Middle School and High School Attendance

The Board and faculty of the Knoxville Community School District consider regular attendance highly important and have established the following policy to deal with student absence and tardiness in the middle school and the high school.

I. General Attendance Policies Applicable to Both Middle School and High School

  1. The following absences will be excused, providing the excuse has been provided by the parent or guardian in advance of the absence, or at the time of personal illness:
    1. Personal illness;
    2. Family death or emergency;
    3. Quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19 or immediate family member quarantine due to such exposure. However, if participation in continuous remote learning is appropriate during the quarantine, attendance will be in compliance with the district's Return-to-Learn Plan and will not be counted as an absence.
    4. Medical appointments that must be made during school time;
    5. Court appearance if validated by the assigned time on the ticket, and the appearance is validated by the Clerk of the Magistrate Court and/or District Court;
    6. College visits with the recommendation of the counselor.  Parent-teacher conference days and semester break days should be used when possible for these visits;
    7. Family trips and other extended absences that can be justified from an educational standpoint.  These must be approved by the principal well in advance and arrangements made with each teacher involved for the make-up of work to be missed; and
    8. School initiated absence (no parent excuse required).
  2. Either prior to an excused absence if possible, or following an excused absence, the student will be responsible for contacting teachers to complete all work not previously made-up.  Make-up work timeline is outlined in the Student Handbook.  After ten (10) consecutive excused absences, a parent conference will be held to discuss educational planning.
  3. The following absences will be treated as unexcused:
    1. Any absence not properly excused before the occurrence, or at the time in the case of personal illness.  It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school if a student is to be absent and the absence is to be excused.  However, to satisfy a mutual concern of parents/guardians and the school for the welfare of unaccounted-for students, the office will contact parent/guardian should a student be found absent for whom no parent/guardian excuse has been received.  This call will be to confirm the whereabouts of the student but will be considered after the fact for attendance purposes and will not be considered excused if the school has to call to find a student;
    2. Leaving the building during the day without parental excuse and authorization of the principal's office;
    3. Leaving the building during the day or failing to attend class for tournament games not approved by the school principal or his/her designee;
    4. Work for parent/guardian or an employer;
    5. Haircut appointments;
    6. Oversleeping;
    7. Car trouble;
    8. Shopping trips;
    9. Senior pictures; or
    10. Obtaining drivers’ license or permit.

II.  Attendance Policies Applicable Only to Middle School

  1. Following an unexcused absence:
    1. All work must be made-up the day the student returns to school.  Credit will be granted for work made-up.
    2. Following the first unexcused absence the student will be assigned a 90 minute detention (45 minutes if only one period is missed).
    3. Following the second unexcused absence greater than 90 minutes, a student will be placed on in-school suspension for 1/2 day.
    4. A third unexcused absence will result in a one-day in-school suspension. Parents/guardians will be required to meet with the principal and truant officer to develop an attendance plan before the student returns to class.
    5. Parents/guardians will be notified by mail or phone or email of any unexcused absence from school.
  2. Tardiness
    1. The only tardiness that will be excused will be that from being detained by another teacher (in which case the detaining teacher will issue a late pass) or because of a late bus.  Being over 30 minutes late will be considered the same as an unexcused absence.
    2. To provide for those cases where being late is unavoidable, there will be no penalty assessed for the first three (3) instances of tardiness each semester.  Following the fourth (4) tardy and each succeeding tardy up to six in a semester, a student will have to make up 45 minutes of detention.  Following the sixth (6) tardy in a semester, a parent conference may be held to develop a behavior modification plan that will encourage more prompt attendance.
  3. Detention
    1. Detention may be assigned to students by any school employee for conduct, which is inappropriate, disruptive, uncooperative, or for refusal to follow the accepted rules of the school.
    2. All detention assignments will be in multiples of 45 minutes.
    3. he detention slip is completed in triplicate and signed by the student.  This signature is to confirm that the student has received the assignment, not an indication that the student agrees or disagrees with the assignment.
    4. Students will be expected to call their parents/guardians and inform them of the assigned detention.
    5. Detention is to be completed after school on the school day it is assigned.  The principal may excuse a student from serving a detention the same day it is assigned only if parents/guardians have provided an acceptable excuse and have made arrangements for their student to serve the detention the following day.

III.  Attendance Policies Applicable Only to High School

  1. Following the first unexcused absence from a class(es) during a calendar year:
    1. The student will be assigned a 45-minute detention for one period, 90- minute detention for two periods and Saturday School for anything beyond two periods.  This may be waived if there is a parent/guardian contact for the absence in advance and, though unexcused, it is for something that cannot be done outside of school time.
    2. The student and his/her parent/guardian will be contacted to review school policy and procedure.
    3. Truant students will not be given credit for work in the class during the unexcused absence, but may be required by the teacher to complete it as part of the class requirements.
  2. Following the second unexcused absence from class(es):
    1. The student will be assigned a 90-minute detention for one period, and Saturday school for more than one period missed.  This will not be waived.
    2. A conference between the student, the student's parent/guardian, and an administrator or counselor will be held.      
    3. Truant students will not be given credit for work missed in the class during the unexcused absence, but may be required to complete it as part of the requirements.
  3. Following the third unexcused absence from class(es):
    1.  If the absence results in the third unexcused period from any class the student will be removed from the class with loss of credit and assigned to study hall.  The parent/guardian shall be given proper notification that all credit for the class(es) has been lost.
  4. Missing a class while being elsewhere in the building without the authorization of a teacher or skipping a study hall will result in the assignment of 90 minutes of detention.  
  5. If a student accumulates a total of ten (10) absences (excused or unexcused) per semester from any class, a conference with parents/guardians, student, teachers, and principal may be requested by the principal to determine if the student is progressing well enough to justify continuation in the class.
  6. Tardiness
    1. The only tardiness that will be excused will be that from being detained by another teacher (in which case the detaining teacher will issue a late pass) or because of a late bus.
    2. To provide for those cases where being late is unavoidable there will be no penalty assessed for the first instance of tardiness each semester.
    3. On the second, third and fourth tardies, the student will be assigned 45 minutes of detention.
    4. For the fifth, sixth and seventh tardies, the student will be assigned 90 minutes of detention, and the parents/guardians will be contacted.
    5. For each tardy beyond seven, the student will be assigned Saturday school for each succeeding tardy.
    6. Parents/guardians will be notified by mail of any detention assigned.
  7.  Detention
    1. The detention room will be open Tuesday through Friday mornings from 7:25 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and Monday through Thursday afternoons from 3:15 p.m. to 4:05 p.m.
    2. Students must arrive during the first five (5) minutes.  After that time, the door will close and there will be no admittance.
    3. All detentions will be assigned and made up in forty-five (45) minute segments.         
    4. Students will have four (4) scheduled detention sessions to make up assigned detention after it has been issued.
    5. A student who fails to make up an assigned detention will be assigned Saturday School.

 

Approved:  7/15/2019                             Reviewed:                     Revised:   8/24/2020