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Student Attendance


STUDENT ATTENDANCE, REPORTING OF STUDENT ATTENDANCE, TARDINESS AND EXCUSES

The school board believes that good attendance, with a minimum of tardiness and absenteeism, is essential if students are to gain maximum benefit from the school district’s instructional program. The school board thusly directs the superintendent to develop administrative regulations governing tardiness and absences (excused and non-excused). 

The administrative regulations shall be based on all applicable state laws governing absenteeism and tardiness and shall include (but not limited to) the counting and reporting of students to the Mississippi Department of Education for attendance purposes, expectations for good student attendance, parent responsibility, excused and unexcused absences, and tardiness. Initial administrations regulations and any future changes to such administrative regulations shall be approved by the school board before implementation.

Make-up Assignments: The administrative regulations shall specify that no absence will be excused when it is due to suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary action. However, to avoid adopting a policy or administrative rule that would ensure a student’s failure, the district may adopt a provision that permits or requires suspended students who are not immediately placed in an alternative school program to make up work within specified deadlines.

Attendance Reporting: In order for a student to be considered as having attended school for a full day, the school board specifies that each student must be present for 63% of his or her individual Instructional day as fixed by the local school board for each individual school. For purposes of reporting absenteeism, a student who has an absence that is more than thirty-seven percent (37%) of the student’s instructional day, as fixed by the school board for the school at which the student is enrolled, shall be considered absent the entire school day.

The superintendent shall develop and submit for board adoption a policy which includes: 
  1. a definition of the instructional day for each individual school so that the 63% of the instructional day can be computed for each student within the school district’s individual schools, and 
     
  2. a process for computing 63% of the instructional day for each student within the school district’s individual schools.

Definitions

Full Day Attendance: When a student is present for 63% of his or her individual Instructional day as fixed by the local school board for each individual school.

Unlawful Absence: An absence for an entire school day or during part of a school day when such absence is not due to a valid excuse.