Students shall be counted in attendance if they are actually present at school at the time the attendance is taken or are away from school on a school day and engaged in an educational activity that constitutes a part of the school-approved instructional program for the student (Section 1003.23, Florida Statutes).
Attendance Standard
Provision shall be made for promoting school attendance through supportive interventions which address barriers, education of parents, and enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws and related child welfare legislation. Accordingly:
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absences must be reported to the school by the parent or adult student as soon as practicable;
Failure to report and explain the absence(s) shall result in unexcused absence(s). The final authority for determining the acceptability of the reason for the absence(s) shall rest with the principal.
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upon each unexcused absence, or absence for which the reason is unknown, the principal shall contact the student's parent to determine the reason for the absence;
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teachers shall record absentees each period of the school day and report absences, excused and unexcused, as required by the school;
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insofar as possible, parents should be contacted each time their child has an unexcused absence or an absence for which the reason is unknown, to prevent the development of patterns of nonattendance;
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when a student has at least five (5) unexcused absences or absences for which the reasons are unknown, within a calendar month, or ten (10) unexcused absences, or absences for which the reasons are unknown, within a ninety (90) calendar day period, the teacher shall report to the Principal that the child may be exhibiting a pattern of nonattendance. Unless there is clear evidence that the absences are not a pattern of nonattendance, the Principal must refer to the case to the school's child study team to determine if early patterns of truancy are developing.
Make-Up Work
The purpose of course grades is to help instructors make an informed evaluation of a student's mastery of challenging course standards. As such, students have the opportunity to submit work missed for credit after an absence. Immediately upon return to school, the student will be given the number of days absent plus one additional day to make up all work missed. It is important to note that some in-class activities cannot be replicated as makeup work. In these instances, teachers may elect to exempt the assignment or to provide an alternative assignment that evaluates similar standards.