Student Handbook - Kingsport City Schools - Website

K I N G S P O R T C I T Y S C H O O : S T U D E N T H A N D B O O KEXCEPTIONS/SPECIAL SITUATIONSStudents who miss classes to participate in school functions/field trips approved by the principalor Superintendent of Schools will be recorded as “field trip”. Activities considered schoolfunctions must be school-planned, school-directed and teacher-supervised. Students receivinghomebound services are exempt from the provisions of this policy for the duration of theplacement.COLLEGE VISIT DAYSHigh school juniors and seniors may choose to miss two days per year in order to visitcollege campuses. These absences count toward the total number of absences in anyone term. Students are strongly encouraged to utilize fall and spring breaks for collegevisits.MAKE-UP WORKPlease see School Operations: Make-Up Work.POSSIBLE LEGAL SANCTIONS Referral to the Truancy Intervention Program for Attendance Monitoring High School & Middle School students may be referred to the Tribe Council Programto have their case heard by a group of their peers. A referral may be made for in-home services or counseling. A petition can be filed against middle and high school students for truancy. This willresult in the student and parent having to appear in the Sullivan County JuvenileCourt. Students can be placed on probation, placed in a residential setting, or possibly beremoved from the parent’s custody and placed in foster care. A petition will be filed against the parents for dependency and neglect for casesinvolving elementary students. Parents can be reported to the Department ofChildren’s Services for educational neglect. By law, parents may be fined $50 for every unexcused absence. Parents may be charged with Educational Neglect. Each unexcused absenceconstitutes a separate offense. Educational neglect is a class C misdemeanor.Middle and high school students can be charged with truancy and taken before the JuvenileCourt Judge. A truancy petition can result in the child being placed on probation or beingremoved from the home and placed in foster care or a group home. In cases involvingelementary students, a dependency and neglect petition will be filed in the Juvenile Court.Parents/legal guardians may be fined for each unexcused absence. Further, if the parent/legalguardian is found to be at fault for the unexcused absences, they may be charged withcontributing to the delinquency of a minor and sentenced to up to one (1) year in jail.COMMUNICATIONSIt is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school by 9 a.m. when a student isabsent and provide the school with an explanation for the absence. This will be used by theprincipal in determining whether or not the absence is excused. Parents can notify the schoolregarding their child’s absence using one of the following methods: e-mail the attendancecontact person; call; OR send a written excuse.State law [TCA 49-6-3007(e)(2)] requires that the school send a letter to the parent/guardianafter five (5) days of absence without an adequate excuse. After five (5) days of unexcused31