Attendance Policy

Absences

To ensure that all children acquire the necessary skills for success in adult life, school attendance is mandatory. There are probably no factors more important to a student’s progress in school than regular and punctual school attendance. Students who are tardy or absent excessively from their instructional program will fall behind in academic achievement. Excessive school absenteeism precedes grade failure, loss of interest, and may result in students withdrawing from school. Students should be in school every day unless they are ill. If a child is absent from school, Florida Law requires that parents provide a written note explaining the reason for each absence when the child returns to school. We are required by State law to check attendance daily.

Excused absences are categorized as follows:

  1. Personal illness of the student: Students missing 5 or more consecutive days of school due to illness or injury are required to provide a written statement from a health care provider. The written statement must include all days the student has been absent from school. If a student is continually sick and repeatedly absent from school due to a specific medical condition, he or she must be under the supervision of a health care provider in order to receive excused absences from school.
  2. Medical appointment which cannot be arranged after school hours: a written statement from a health care provider indicating the date and time of the appointment must be submitted to the principal or designee.
  3. Death in immediate family
  4. An approved school activity (absences recorded but not reported).
  5. Attendance at a center under Department of Children and Families supervision.
  6. Observance of a religious holiday or service when it is mandated for all members of a faith that such a holiday or service be observed. The religious holiday must be listed on the district’s approved list of religious holidays.
  7. School-sponsored event or activity previously approved.
  8. Court appearance of the student, subpoena by law enforcement agency or mandatory court appearance.
  9. Outdoor suspensions

Military Connected Students
M-DCPS is committed to assist students from military families and will continue efforts to facilitate the development and implement policies that directly impact children of military personnel. In an effort to ease the burden of our students who have parents that may be deployed or on “Block Leave”, schools will allow up to a total of five days of excused absences each academic year to allow families time together.

  • The absences are to be pre-approved by the school principal.
  • Students shall have a reasonable amount of time, to complete make-up work.
  • Attendance Correction Form (FM-5556) will be sent to the Federal and State Compliance Office, via Self Service at http://selfservice.dadeschools.net. for processing.

Furthermore, attendance recordkeeping programs have been modified to ensure that students may not be disqualified from Perfect Attendance recognitions/awards at the school or district level. Deployment-related absences will not negatively impact a school’s percent of attendance.

Unexcused absences include:

Any absence that does not fall into one of the above excused categories is to be considered unexcused. Any student who has been absent from school will be marked with an unexcused absence until the required documentation is received. Failure to provide the required documentation within three school days upon the return to school will result in the absence remaining unexcused.

  1. Absences due to vacations, personal services, local non-school event, program or sporting activity.
  2. Absences due to older students providing day care services for siblings.
  3. Absences due to illness of others.
  4. Absences due to non-compliance with immunization requirements (unless lawfully exempted).

Students are to be counted in attendance only if they are actually present for at least two hours of the day. Students granted an excused absence have the right to make up all missed work within a reasonable amount of time, up to three (3) school days, to submit make-up work. Any absence that does not fall into one of the above excused absence categories is to be considered unexcused. Vacations when school is in session are considered unexcused absences. Unexcused absences do not require that the teacher provide make-up work for the student. All unexcused absences will result in a failing grade being issued for any work missed on the day(s) that the student was absent from school.

Parents are expected to:

  • Report and explain an absence or tardiness to the school. Failure of the parent to provide required documentation within three (3) days upon the student’s return to school will result in an unexcused absence.
  • Admits can be submitted electronically or in-person
  • Electronic submissions include emailing a statement of the cause for such absence directly to the school’s attendance email address which is 3141@dadeschools.net . The email should include the Student’s Full Name, Identification Number, Date of Absence, and the Reason for the absence; include the Student’s Name and EXCUSED ADMIT on the subject line.
  • Parents who wish to submit documentation for an excused absence to the school’s attendance office in person may do so within three (3) days from the date of the absence. Failure to report and explain absence(s) shall result in unexcused absence(s).
  • Ensure that the child has requested and completes make-up assignments for all excused absences/tardiness from their teachers upon their return to school or class.
  • Appear before the Attendance Review Committee at the scheduled time to provide information relating to their child’s absences and to support prescribed activities.

Absences-Excessive

A student accumulating ten (10) or more unexcused absences in a school year will have grade(s) withheld pending an administrative screening and completion of assigned interventions by the Attendance Review Committee. Unexcused absences do not require that the teacher provide make-up work for the student. However, the attendance Review Committee may assign educationally-related activities to mitigate the loss of instructional time. (Board Rule 6Gx13-5A-1.041)

The Attendance Review Committee is comprised of a minimum of a student services representative and an administrator or administrative designee and will provide guidance and support to students with significant absences. They are expected to:

  1. Provide early intervention by convening when students reach an accumulation of five (5) unexcused absences in a semester or ten (10) unexcused absences in an annual course.
  2. Convene a minimum of four (4) designated times per year.
  3. Give consideration to all extenuating circumstances surrounding student absences. The Attendance Review Committee is charged with the responsibility of prescribing activities designed to mitigate the loss of instructional time and has the authority to recommend the following:
    • Issuing of final grades.
    • Temporary withholding of final grades. The following are among possible options:
      • Make-up assignments
      • Attendance probation for the following grading period(s)
      • Completion of a school service project
    • Permanent withholding of final grades. The student is to be informed of his/her right of final appeal to the regional superintendent or designee.
  4. Review attendance history for student exhibiting patterns of excused and/or unexcused absences and provide appropriate referrals and counseling support.

Tardy To School

It is a reasonable expectation that in order for a learning activity to exists, each student must arrive to class on time (punctually). A child who is not in his/her classroom at 8:20 a.m. (Pre-K 1) or 8:35 a.m. (2-5) is considered tardy. School is a child’s place of business, and we strongly encourage the habit of punctuality. If tardy, students must proceed as follows:

  1. Report directly to the security desk in front of the school for a tardy pass.
  2. Report to the office if student arrives after 8:50 A.M.
  3. Bring a note of explanation signed by the parent/guardian.

Students who are consistently tardy do not fully benefit from the instructional environment. It is vital that your child is on time and ready to learn every day. It is the parent’s responsibility to explain in writing any tardiness to school. Failure to provide a written explanation will automatically be considered an unexcused tardy. Accumulated unexcused tardies will be counted towards the threshold for initiating an attendance review. Excessive tardies will result in the students losing privileges, detention, parent conference, and/or suspension. Any student with more than 3 tardies per grading period will not be allowed to participate in the perfect attendance pep-rally.

The following steps will be followed should students be tardy to school for unexcused reasons.

  • 1st tardy Warning issued
  • 2nd tardy Warning issued
  • 3rd tardy Teacher will contact parent
  • 4th tardy Letter will be sent to the parent; Students with perfect attendance and more than three tardies will not be awarded certificates of recognition for perfect attendance.
  • 5th tardy Parent is required to contact the school and come in for a mandatory conference with the principal or designee.
  • 6th tardy Student’s ability to participate in school performances or extracurricular activities such as Art, Chess, Dance, FEA, Spanish Club, Earth Club, Math Club, Safety Patrols, etc., may be affected.
  • 7th tardy School social worker will be sent to the home.
  • 8th tardy Student’s conduct and/or effort grade(s) may be lowered in the subject(s) missed; Students on out-of area transfers will be returned to their home school.
  • 9th tardy An Attendance Review will be initiated by the Attendance Review Committee.