III. B. Attendance
It is essential that students be in school on a regular
basis. Students who are not in school miss valuable academic instruction. Our
schools must adhere to Scott County Board policies as well as Tennessee State
Law in requiring that students attend school as required by adopted Board
policies and TN Code Annotated.
1. Attendance
Requirements
a. Each student must achieve a school attendance rate of at
least 93%. In order to achieve this goal, we must all work together to insure
that our students attend school every day.
b. Parents should send in a note for all absences
documenting the reason their child was absent. No more than five (5) parent or
doctor notes each semester, ten (10) total for the year, will be counted as excused.
c. One day will be excused for absences due to death in the
family. Additional days may be excused at the discretion of the principal.
With appropriate documentation, absence(s) due to the death
of non family members may be approved by the principal as excused.
d. Excuses for absences must be submitted within five (5)
school days after the student returns to school.
e. When a student leaves school early, he/she will be
counted absent for the remaining classes. This time will accumulate toward the
total days absent during the year.
f. When instructional time missed because of tardiness
and/or early dismissals accumulates (on the computer) into one (1) full day,
even though the absences may be excused, a student will not be awarded or
recognized for perfect attendance.
g. Only two (2) days per occurrence can be excused for
absences because of a lice infestation.
h. If a student does not attend a field trip, he/she is
required to attend school or be marked absent for the day.
i. Parents or guardians may not pick up other students from
school without written permission from the parent or guardian of the student
being picked up.
j. Students participating in school sponsored activities,
whether on or off campus, shall not be counted absent.
ATTENDANCE LAW (TCA
49-6-3009) An attendance aide, hired by the Scott County Board of
Education, is required to call parents on a daily basis to check on students
who are absent from school. A letter explaining the Attendance Law is
automatically generated to parents when a student has total of five (5)
unexcused absences and also after each successive five (5) day period of
unexcused absences. Students must bring an excuse when they return to school
after being absent. No more than five (5) parent notes each semester, ten (10)
total, will be accepted for absences during the year. At the discretion of the
judge, the parent or legal guardians of children who have more than five (5)
unexcused absences may be assessed a fine of up to $50 or five (5) hours of
community service. (TCA 49-5-30)
Promotion and
Retention Due to Absences
For students in grades Kindergarten through
eighth grade the following rules apply: Students having absences or accumulated
time, tardy, and sign-outs of 15 or more days may be retained in their present
grade level, or required to attend after school tutoring and/or summer school
to make up work missed. After a student has accumulated a total of 15 absences,
(including both excused and unexcused) an attendance committee appointed by the
principal will conduct a hearing to determine if any extenuating circumstances
exist or to verify that the student has met attendance requirements that will
allow him/her to pass the course or be promoted. The principal shall be
responsible for notifying, in writing, the director of schools, the attendance
supervisor, and the parents of the student of any action taken by the school.
For students in high school, students having absences or accumulated time,
tardy, and sign-outs of more than 12