• Absence Policy for Blue Ridge High School

    The comprehensive district Attendance Policy can be located in the Student Handbook; however, in order to clarify the attendance policy at Blue Ridge High School, the administrative staff has identified the following major important points:

    1. Official attendance is taken every day at 9:31 am which factors into school funding. Please do not schedule activities that would have your child miss school during this specific time. Attendance is taken each class period to ensure compulsory attendance and class credit requirements are met.

     

    1. In order for students to earn credit, they must attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. All absences, whether excused or unexcused, must be considered in determining whether a student has attended the required percentage of days.

     

    1. A student absent for any portion of the day, including at the official attendance-taking time, should follow the procedures below to provide documentation of the absence.

     

    1. Students must turn in their documentation of absence in the note box on the front counter within 48 hours of the absence. Please make sure that the documentation shows the student's full name and the date of the absence(s). Documentation must be either an official doctor's form or an Official School Absence Form. Forms are available online at http://brisd.net/domain/24or you may request a hard copy through the school.

     

    1. College Visits (maximum of two) - These visits must be pre-approved by the principal and must be documented by officials at the visited college on the appropriate form and submitted within three days of the visit.

     

    1. In order for your student to obtain a VOE/TEA form for driver’s license purpose, your student must be in attendance for 90% of the school day or semester. Attendance for a TEA Form is based on the previously completed semester. Please refer to the campus VOE/TEA Policy for more details. If credit for a course is lost due to unexcused absences, students must attend Friday Night and/or Saturday Morning School to restore credit upon meeting with the principal.

     

    *The campus will document in its attendance records for the student whether the absence is considered by the district to be excused or unexcused (the Principal will make the final determination). Absences are primarily Medical, Excused or Unexcused.

     

    * Whether or not a student goes to the doctor, unless they attend school for a portion of the day, the absence CANNOT be listed as MEDICAL.

    If a student attends school for a portion of the day and returns with a doctor’s note, which is coded as “Medical”, coded as an “M”, and will not be counted towards the absence portion of this policy. All other absences are “Excused” (medical note and never came to school, funeral documentation, or other reason where a parent completes the district’s Absence Notification Form in the appropriate time frame, and the form is approved by the campus administration. “Excused” absences allow students to continue to be eligible for be “comped” from End of Year final exams. Excused absences also serve as documentation during an Attendance Committee Meeting for loss of credit.

     

     

    Absences other than Medical “M”: PER SEMESTER

    1st- 3rd Absence: Parents will be contacted via electronic phone reach and attendance clerk will personally call.

    4th Absence: Student and parent will have a meeting with the campus administrator and attendance clerk to create a Behavior Attendance Plan.

    5th- 7th Absence: Parents will be contacted via electronic phone reach and attendance clerk will personally call.

    8th Absence:  A parent conference is required. Loss of credit will be issued for each class where the student has not been in attendance on the 9th absence.

    9th+ Absence: Student will not be allowed to attend any co-curricular/extra-curricular events (athletic contests, field trips, musicals, plays, dances, etc.) until “seat time” is served. 

     

    After the 8th absence (REGARDLESS OF MEDICAL, EXCUSED, OR UNEXCUSED) within a semester, a student is placed on audit status and will not receive a credit at the end of the semester for that class unless the student successfully appeals to a building attendance committee. When the student completes the Appeal for Credit Form, a meeting will be held with an attendance committee, student and at least one parent or guardian near the end of the semester. The attendance committee will consist of the student’s counselor, a building administrator and two faculty members (one who is presently a teacher of the student appealing for credit). At this meeting, the student will present information to justify why a grade and credit should be given. Evidence worthy of sharing at the meeting will include doctor's notes confirming the seriousness of the illness or injury, proof of significantly improved attendance since being placed on audit status in the class(es), proof of completed assignments, proof of improved performance in class, serious/prolonged illness, serious/prolonged injury, family emergency, etc. The committee will then rule on whether the audit status should be removed and credit and letter grade awarded. If the appeal is denied, the student will receive an NC (no credit).

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    When a student between ages six (6) and nineteen (19) incurs unexcused absences for three (3) or more days or parts of days within a four-week period, the school will send a notice to the student’s parent, as required by law, to remind the parent that it is the parent’s duty to monitor his or her child’s attendance and to require the student to come to school. The notice will also inform the parent that the district will initiate truancy prevention measures and request a conference between school administrators and the parent. These measures must include one or more of the 4 following: a student attendance behavior improvement plan signed by the principal or his/her designee, the student, and the student’s parent; school-based community service; or referrals to in-school counseling or other programs aimed at addressing student truancy. A court of law may also impose penalties against a student’s parent if a school-aged student is deliberately not attending school. A complaint against the parent may be filed in court if the student is absent without excuse from school on ten or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year. If a student ages 12 through 18 incurs unexcused absences on ten or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year, the district, in most circumstances, will refer the student to truancy court. [Policy FEA (Legal).]