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Attendance

ATTENDANCE / ABSENCES

Attendance
By law, it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to ensure that his/her child comes to school. Absences are considered to by the State of Ohio to be excused absences when due to illness, religious holiday or a death in the family. When your child is absent due to reasons other than those recognized by the State of Ohio, the decision to have such absences excused or unexcused is a decision made by the building principal. Excessive absences, without valid reasons, will be reported to the Assistant Superintendent for further action.  
 
Absences
When your child is absent from school, please notify the school at (440) 257-5954 prior to 9:10 a.m. When calling in an absence prior to 8:00 a.m., you may leave a voicemail message regarding the absence.  For safety purposes, we will call any parent whose child is absent and has not been reported as such by his/her parents.  
 
HB 410 / Excessive Absenteeism
In December 2016, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 410 to encourage and support a preventative approach to excessive absences and truancy.  After careful review, the Mentor School District has implemented guidelines contained in House Bill 410 in order to help support academic success of our students and partner with families to identify and reduce barriers to regular school attendance (effective Aug. 2017).  
 
A.   Definition of Truancy and Excessive Absences*
    • Absent 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse (5 days for both elementary and secondary);
    • Absent 42 or more hours in one school month without a legitimate excuse (7 days for elementary, 6 days for secondary) ;
    • Absent 72 or more hours in one school year without a legitimate excuse (12 for elementary, 11 for secondary);
    • Definition of “excessive absences”
    • Absent 38 or more hours in one school month with or without a legitimate excuse (7 days for elementary, 6 days for      secondary);
    • Absent 65 or more hours in one school year with or without a legitimate excuse (11 days for elementary, 10 days for secondary)
    • Definition of “chronic absenteeism”
    • Absent 92 or more hours with or without a legitimate excuse (16 days or elementary, 14 days for secondary)
 
*Notifications to the family will be sent prior to the triggering absences above through Infinite Campus messages.
 
If a student is “habitually truant” our district will follow these guidelines to work with the student and their families.
 
1.  Within seven calendar days of the triggering absences, our absence intervention team will notify the family in writing.  
2.  Within ten calendar days of the triggering absence, the student will be assigned to an absence intervention team that will include two district representatives and the child’s parent or guardian. If families are not responsive to at least three good faith attempts by the district to engage them in the absence intervention team process, the district may file a report to the county children services agency for abuse or neglect.
3.  Within 14 school days after the assignment of the team, a student-centered absence intervention plan will be developed with and for the student containing an agreed-upon strategy for getting the student to school every day and may provide supportive services to families that could include counseling, education and parenting programs, mediation, or intervention programs available through juvenile authorities.
4.  If the student does not make progress on the plan or continues to be excessively absent, the district will file a complaint in the juvenile court.
 
It is important for every student in Ohio to attend school every day.  Missing too much school has long-term, negative effects on students, such as lower achievement and graduation rates.   There are many reasons students miss school - we want to make sure we are identifying and supporting students who may need extra support and services.  Our goal is to help increase attendance rates to help students’ progress in mastering knowledge and skills necessary to graduate from high school prepared for higher education and the workforce.
 
Tardiness
Students who are tardy must check in at the Main Office before they report to the classroom.  Tardy shall be defined as no more than 1 hour 45 minutes after school starts (9:10-10:55 a.m.)  Half-day absence will be defined as 1 hour 46 minutes to 3 hours 5 minutes absence (10:56 a.m.-12:15 p.m.)  Whole day absence will be defined as 3 hours 6 minutes or more (12:16-3:20 p.m.)  Students who leave the building due to a medical appointment will be declared half-day absent if the absence is longer than 1 hour 16 minutes to 3 hours 5 minutes.  Students who arrive late to school due to a medical appointment will not be marked tardy if late 1 hour 45 minutes or less.
 
Vacations
Parents are encouraged to plan family vacations to correspond with school vacations.  Vacations that interfere with school attendance should be discussed with the school administrator well in advance of the vacation.  A written request using the Prearranged Absence Form must be completed at least five (5) days in advance of the planned vacation.  Forms are available in the school office.  After the five-day lead period has passed, teachers are not required to issue homework or class work prior to the vacation. Students will then have to make up work upon their return.
 
Please note, vacations are considered unexcused absences; see Board Policy 6.08 for a list of excused absences.