If a student is absent without school permission, that absence will be counted as an unexcused absence. In this case thestudent may receive a zero for all work missed, parents will be notified, the student will be referred to counseling and, ifnecessary, an attendance warning will be issued, charges will be filed against parents to enforce the compulsory schoolattendance law if absences of this nature persist. See Reg. FE-R.90% RULE FOR LOSS OF CREDITA student must be present 90% of the days the class is offered in order to receive credit (middle and high school) or to bepromoted to the next grade level (elementary school). <strong>Parent</strong>s will be notified prior to and at the actual point thestudent’s attendance, in any class, falls below 90%. When a student’s attendance drops below 90% but remains at least75% of the days the class is offered, the student may earn credit for the class by completing a plan approved by theprincipal. If the student fails to complete the plan set by the principal, or if attendance falls below 75% of the days theclass is offered, the student, parent, or representative may request award of credit by submitting a written petition to theappropriate campus attendance committee. An attendance committee at the campus will determine if credit will be reinstatedor if student will be promoted to next grade level based on extenuating circumstances. The attendancecommittee may also impose conditions for the student to abide by for the remainder of the grading period beforerewarding credit/promotion. Petitions for credit may be filed at any time the student receives notice but not later than 30days after the last day of classes. This applies to all grade levels.Absences considered when calculating loss of credit/retention include: Excused absences (illness, funeral, legal issues,parent requests, runaways, suspension, and inclement weather days not approved by the district), unexcused absences,and truancies. Absences not calculated against the student: absence due to required court appearances, doctor’sappointment (must have attended class sometime during the instructional day), SAC, observing religious Holy Days,business on campus, tardiness, school activity (up to 10), and approved field trip, 2 days per junior or senior year forcollege visits, and absences due to scheduled meetings with government officials if applying for citizenship, participatingin naturalization ceremonies, or playing “Taps” at a veteran’s funeral.OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLETE CLASS WORK<strong>Student</strong>s who have an excused absence will have the opportunity to make up class work, one day for each day ofabsence or a reasonable amount of time. When applicable, arrangements for make-up work should be made in advanceof an absence. Class make-up work for unexcused absences should be permitted in order to allow the student to keeppace with the instructional program. All classwork must be made up if a student misses a class or part of a class.EARLY RELEASE OF STUDENTS FROM SCHOOLA parent may request permission for a student to leave school during the school day when necessary for a doctor’sappointment or emergency. Excessive requests for permission for students to leave early will be monitored by thecampus administration and conferences with the parent or guardian will be scheduled to resolve the situation. A studentmust obtain an early dismissal slip or sign an early dismissal card from the attendance office in accordance with schoolprocedure. At no time should students leave school early without getting permission from the school and following theschool procedures for leaving the school grounds. <strong>Student</strong>s who fail to follow the above procedures may be consideredtruant and subject to the campus discipline management plan.TRUANCYTruancy is defined as a student not having permission to be away from school or a valid reason to arrive late, skip class(es), miss the whole day, part of the day or miss many days. <strong>Student</strong>s who are absent from one or more class periods, orare absent from school the entire day without the permission of parent(s)/guardian(s), or school authorities, or have avalid reason to be absent, are considered truant. <strong>School</strong> officials shall investigate excessive student absences fromschool. <strong>Parent</strong>s must ensure that their child attends school each day for the entire period the program of instruction isprovided. If the parent has been warned in writing that the child has failed to attend school for the amount of timerequired by law, the attendance officer shall file a complaint against the parent(s)/guardian(s) in a judicial court. TexasEducation Code 25.093 (a). The fact that a parent did not receive the notice does not establish a defense to prosecution.See Important Notices.NOTICE TO PARENTS OF ABSENCESThere are many ways that the district provides notices to parents/guardians about students’ absences. These include:1. Phone messages from the <strong>School</strong> Messenger System (Sea Horse Sam) for each day the student is absent. If aparent has not resolved the absence, the <strong>School</strong> Messenger will call again and leave another message for the same andsubsequent absences.2. The progress report issued every three weeks also contains a total number of the absences for that period.3. The progress report card contains a total of all the absences the student has acquired for the year.4. Individual calls to parents/guardians from the campus teachers, assistant principals, counselors or CIS worker aremade.5. <strong>Parent</strong>s can also track attendance online through Power<strong>Parent</strong>.26
<strong>Parent</strong>s/Guardians should make every effort to keep track of the child’s absences and contact the school each time thestudent is absent. If the parent feels an error about an absence may have occurred, the parent/guardian should contactthe school as soon as the error has been discovered. This will make correcting an error easier before it escalates to amore serious problem.RUNAWAYS<strong>Student</strong>s who are considered runaways must be counted absent. The student may be withdrawn if:1. The student is no longer residing within YISD boundaries;2. A police report has been filed and a case number has been assigned; and3. A letter has been issued to the parent/guardian stating that the student has been withdrawn and once the childreturns home, the child will be re-enrolled at the campus.4. Whereabouts of student are unknown.CLASS PERIOD CUTSIf a student misses instruction due to “cutting class” without excuse, the student will be considered truant, will bedisciplined according to campus procedures, and will be subject to the “work missed policy” at the campus. <strong>Student</strong>smay be assigned to Saturday <strong>School</strong>, lunchtime detention or afterschool detention or other interventions under the schoolmanagement plan. The student must make up work missed and may receive no credit, partial credit, or complete creditfor work made up. See Reg. FE-R.TARDIES<strong>Student</strong>s must be in their classrooms and ready to receive instruction when the bell to begin class rings. A high schoolstudent who arrives after the tardy bell is counted tardy for that class period. An elementary school student who arrivesafter the 7:45 a.m. tardy bell rings will be counted tardy for the day. It is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardianto contact the school before the second period of instruction by telephone, in writing, or in person to verify the reason forthe tardy (unless a doctor’s appointment, or has been approved as a school activity or business on campus isdocumented). See FE-R.Tardies will be handled by the teacher’s classroom discipline management program. Habitual tardies will be handled byplacing the student under the campus management plan and interventions will be provided. This plan may includereferral to detention; parent conference; or possible referral to SAC (<strong>Student</strong> Alternative Classroom) for grades 7-12.PERFECT ATTENDANCE REWARDS<strong>School</strong>s have the option of rewarding their students for perfect attendance. Each campus is responsible for setting itsown criteria on what constitutes “Perfect Attendance.”BAD WEATHERBeginning at 6:00 A.M., listen to local radio and television stations to provide you with information on school closings orlate start due to bad weather or visit the YISD website at www.yisd.net.LATE START AND EARLY RELEASE DAYSThe individual school will notify parents of isolated cases of a Late Start Day. The individual school will notify parents incase of any isolated changes in dismissal time for an Early Release Day.27