Attendance

5200 - ATTENDANCE
 
The educational program offered by this District is predicated upon the presence of the student and requires continuity of instruction and classroom participation. Absences for any reason, whether excused or unexcused, reduce instructional time and have an adverse impact on student learning. Attendance shall be required of all students enrolled in the schools during the days and hours that the school is in session or during the attendance sessions to which a student has been assigned.
 
A student in grades nine (9) through twelve (12) may be considered a full-time equivalent student provided the student is enrolled in at least five (5) units of instruction, as defined by State law, per school year.
 
In accordance with statute, the Superintendent shall require, from the parent of each student of compulsory school age or from an adult student who has been absent from school or from class for any reason, a written statement of the cause for such absence. The Board of Education reserves the right to verify such statements and to investigate the cause of each single absence or prolonged absence.
 
The Board considers the following factors to be reasonable excuses for time missed at school:
 
personal illness (a written physician's statement verifying the illness may be required)
 
appointment with a health care provider
 
illness in the family necessitating the presence of the child
 
quarantine of the home
 
death in the family
 
necessary work at home due to absence or incapacity of parent(s)/guardian(s) 
 
attendance at a driver’s education course for up to two (2) hours on no more than four (4) days (limited to a total of eight (8) hours during the school year), provided that the absence does not occur during a core curriculum subject course
 
religious expression days, up to three (3) of which may, after approval by the principal in accordance with this policy, permit the student to be absent without any academic penalty
 
out-of-state travel (up to a maximum twenty-four (24) hours per school year that the student's school is open for instruction) to participate in a District-approved enrichment or extracurricular activity 

Any classroom assignment missed due to the absence shall be completed by the student.
 
such good cause as may be acceptable to the Superintendent
 
medically necessary leave for a pregnant student in accordance with Policy 5751
 
service as a precinct officer at a primary, special, or general election in accordance with the program set forth in Policy 5725
 
college visitation
 
The District requires verification of the date and time of the visitation by the college, university, or technical college. 
 
absences due to a student's placement in foster care or change in foster care placement or any court proceedings related to their foster care status
 
absences due to a student being homeless
 
Attendance need not always be within the school facilities, but a student will be considered to be in attendance if present at any place where school is in session by authority of the Board. 
 
The Board shall consider each student assigned to a program of other guided learning experiences to be in regular attendance for the program, provided that the student reports to such staff member the student is assigned for guidance at the place in which the student is conducting study, and regularly demonstrates progress toward the objectives of the course of study.
 
At the discretion of the Superintendent, a student may be excused for a longer period of time than ten (10) days if a child's parent or guardian has recently died or become totally or partially incapacitated and there is no older brother or sister living in the home who is out of school. (The Superintendent may request a certificate of a physician attesting to the physical condition of the parent or guardian.) 
 
Attendance shall be taken at the beginning of every block/period in buildings with block/period-based scheduling. Absences from a class block/period shall be accounted for to the nearest full hour. 
 
Attendance shall be taken at the commencement of the school day in buildings with non-period-based schedules. Attendance for students arriving late or leaving early must be tracked and recorded to the nearest full hour. 
 
Contacting the Parent/Guardian of an Absent Student
 
When a parent, guardian, or other person having care of a student has failed to initiate a telephone call or other communication notifying the school or building administration of the student's excused or unexcused absence within 120 minutes after the beginning of the school day, the attendance officer or designee for each school building shall make at least one (1) attempt to contact the parent, guardian, or other person having care of any student who is recorded as absent without legitimate excuse within 120 minutes after the beginning of each school day by a method designated by the Superintendent in accordance with Ohio law (see AG 5200).
 
A student may have an excused absence for medical reasons, such as personal illness or medical visit, subject to the following rules. A student may have up to ten (10) medically excused absences without a doctor’s note, but with a phone call from a parent/guardian. A medical excuse for personal illness will be accepted in the form of a doctor’s note within five (5) school days of the absence or parent call-in on the day of the absence due to illness or doctor’s visit.
 
Religious Expression Days
 
The Principal will approve up to three (3) religious expression days per school year after receiving a written request from the student's parent or guardian. Religious expression days may be used to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or other religious or spiritual organization. Students who are absent on approved religious expression days will not face any academic penalties and will be provided with academic accommodations with regard to examinations and other academic requirements that are missed.
 
To receive accommodations for religious expression days, parents or guardians must submit written requests to the Principal within fourteen (14) days after the start of the school year or fourteen (14) days after a student is enrolled in the District. The requests must specify the religious expression day(s) to be approved. The Principal will approve the days without inquiring into the sincerity of a student's religious or spiritual belief system. However, the Principal may verify the authenticity of a request by contacting the parent or guardian to confirm they signed it. The Principal may deny the request for religious expression days if the parent or guardian indicates that the signature is not authentic. Once the days have been approved, the Principal will ensure that each teacher schedules a time and date for alternative examinations or other academic requirements that conflict with the student's absence. Students may participate in interscholastic athletics or other extracurricular activities on days in which the student is absent for religious expression.
 
The District has adopted the following procedure for a student, parent, or guardian to notify the District of any grievance with regard to the implementation of this policy. A grievance must be submitted in writing to the Superintendent. The Superintendent designee will review the grievance and issue a written determination of whether the policy has been violated. The decision of the Superintendent designee is final and not subject to further appeal.
 
The District will notify parents and guardians annually about this policy and the procedures that they must follow to request accommodations for religious expression days.
 
The policy will be placed in a prominent location on the District's website and will include the contact information for an individual who can provide further information about the policy. The District will also publish a non-exhaustive list of major religious holidays, festivals, and religious observations as published by the State Superintendent for which an absence will not be unreasonably withheld or denied.  The list will be provided whenever the policy is posted, printed, or distributed, and will be accompanied by a statement that declares the list is non-exhaustive and may not be used to deny accommodations to a student for a holiday, festival, or observation that is not included in the list. Nothing in this policy, and no inclusion or exclusion of a religious holiday or festival on the list posted by a District, shall preclude a student from full and reasonable accommodations for any sincerely held religious beliefs and practices with regard to all examinations or other academic requirements and absences for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system.
 
Parent Notification of Excessive Absences
 
When a student of compulsory school age is absent from school in excess of thirty-eight (38) or more hours, the District or school shall notify the child's parent or guardian of the child's absences, in writing. Written notice will be sent within twenty-five (25) school days after the date of the absence that triggered the notice requirement. At the same time written notice is given, any appropriate intervention strategy listed in this policy may be taken.
 
Habitually Truant
 
A student will be considered habitually truant if the student is of compulsory school age and absent without a legitimate excuse for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours, for forty-two (42) or more hours in one (1) school month, or for seventy-two (72) or more hours in one (1) school year.
 
Legitimate excuses for the absence of a student who is otherwise habitually truant include, but are not limited to:
 
the student was enrolled in another school district;
 
the student was excused from attendance in accordance with R.C 3321.04; or
 
the student has received an age and schooling certificate.
 
The District’s attendance officer shall file a complaint in the juvenile court against any student who is habitually truant unless the District or the student’s school determines that the student and the student’s family are making satisfactory progress in improving the student’s attendance at school. If no determination of progress is made, or if the school determines that the student and the student’s family have ceased to continue making progress in improving the student’s attendance, the attendance officer shall proceed to file a complaint in juvenile court against the student. The complaint will allege that the child is unruly for being habitually truant, and the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child has violated Revised Code 3321.38.
 
If a student who is habitually truant violates the order of a juvenile court regarding the student’s prior adjudication as an unruly child for being a habitual truant, the student may further be adjudicated as a delinquent child.
 
Tiered System of More Intensive Interventions and Supports 
 
The District implements a tiered system of interventions and supports for students to increase attendance. The system is designed to provide resources to students and their families to address the root cause of student absences. More intensive interventions and support are provided to students with greater numbers of absences.
 
Intervention Strategies
 
The term “chronically absent” means that a student has missed at least ten percent (10%) of the minimum number of hours required in the school year. In order to address the attendance practices of students and prevent students from becoming chronically absent, the District will implement one (1) or more of the following intervention strategies:
 
provide counseling to the student
 
take appropriate legal action
 
assign the student to an alternative school
 
Students shall not be suspended, expelled, or otherwise prevented from attending school because of the student’s absences.
 
Absence Intervention Team
 
The District will establish at least one (1) absence intervention team (“AIT”) in each school building. The AIT will work with students at risk of becoming chronically absent and their families to improve the students’ attendance. The Superintendent will develop administrative guidelines that address AIT membership, criteria for when the AIT will work with students and families, and strategies and resources that may be utilized by the AIT to improve school attendance. 
 
Educational Program 
 
The Superintendent is authorized to establish an educational program for parents of truant students which is designed to encourage parents to ensure that their children attend school regularly. Any parent who does not complete the program is to be reported to law enforcement authorities for parental education neglect, a fourth-class misdemeanor if found guilty.
 
This policy was developed after consultation with the judge of Lorain County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court with the parents, guardians, or other persons having care of the students attending school in the District, and with appropriate State and local agencies. The policy aligns with District and school improvement plans developed pursuant to State and Federal law. 
 
Tracking Remote Attendance
 
Consistent with the District's remote learning plan (e.g., Blended Learning, Online Learning, etc.), the District will provide a variety of instruction models, including both teacher-led remote learning and self-directed remote learning.
 
Student attendance in teacher-led remote learning (synchronous web-based instruction) shall be tracked in the same manner as hourly, in-person instruction. Teachers shall determine hourly attendance by evidence of student login and logoff data. Teachers are encouraged to verify meaningful attendance in a method selected by the teacher, such as an ungraded quiz at the close of a lesson, a survey or poll questions (unrelated to the lesson and unpredictable) at the end of the lesson, or asking students questions at random throughout a session. 
 
In addition to the reasons listed at the beginning of this policy, absences from teacher-led remote learning (synchronous web-based instruction) may be considered excused under the following circumstances, with written notice from a parent/guardian: temporary internet outage for individual students or households; unexpected technical difficulties for individual students or households, such as password resets or software upgrades occurring during a teacher-led remote learning lesson; computer/device malfunction; malfunction of a District-owned device for which the District is providing technical assistance, repair, or replacement.
 
Attendance in self-directed remote learning (asynchronous) shall be tracked by evidence of participation, which may include, but is not limited to: daily logins to learning management systems; daily interactions with the teacher to acknowledge attendance, which may include, but are not limited to, messages, emails, telephone calls, video chats, or other formats that enable teachers to engage with students; and assignment completion.

The teacher will determine the number of hours a typical student would take to complete an assignment and report those hours of attendance when the assignment is completed. A teacher may should adjust the number of hours of attendance based on the length of time the student actually spent on the assignment, as reported by the student, parent, or other person with knowledge.