Attendance

School attendance is critical for students to achieve academic success. Regular attendance helps students establish a routine and develop good habits that will benefit them in their academic and professional careers. When students miss school, they can fall behind on coursework, which can lead to poor grades, disengagement from the classroom, and a lack of motivation. In addition, schools and districts rely on attendance data to determine funding and identify potential areas for improvement. Therefore, it is important for parents and educators to prioritize school attendance and work together to ensure that students attend school regularly. The information below includes a listing of excused and unexcused absences as well as additional information on truancy.

Student absences are considered excused for the following reasons:

• Personal illness (includes healthcare visit without documentation)-parent note or phone call required.
• Death of an immediate family member (immediate family is defined as parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling of the student or parent, or a person living in the home)-note required
• Emergency in immediate family (immediate family is defined as parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling of the student or parent, or a person living in the home)-note required Illness of the student’s child with note
• School-imposed absence necessary to treat lice.
• Illness resulting from ongoing medical or psychiatric treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, dialysis, etc., with a doctor note indicating specific timeframes and anticipated absences)
• An appointment with a health care professional would include a visit to a doctor or dental office, a speech therapist(SLP), a licensed social worker (LCSW or LMSW), a psychologist (LPA), or a professional under the order of a medical doctor, including for a student diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder an appointment with a health care practitioner to receive generally recognized serviced such as applied behavioral analysis, speech therapy and occupation therapy
• Removal by CPS/law enforcement and related days (including an arrest or incarceration for non-school-related matters or incarceration beyond three (3) days from school-related matters (if not withdrawn)
• Homeland security and visa appointment (passport/INS/visa/residency, with documentation requiring appearance and proof of attendance)
• Homebound instruction (CEHI-approved, including PEP student)
• Medicaid-eligible; participating in Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Program (with documentation)
• Nurse sent home from school and/or any consecutive days approved by the campus nurse
• Out-of-school suspension for disciplinary reason (including an arrest or incarceration for school-related matters for up to three (3) days
• Citizenship application appointments and/or participation in a U.S. naturalization oath ceremony (with documentation) including a maximum of one day travel to and one day travel from the site if applicable (requires all missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher)
• Sounding taps for a military honor funeral held in the state of TEXAS (for students in grade 6-12 and requires all missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher)
• Mandated court appearance with documentation of required (subpoena/court order) and attendance including a maximum of one day travel to and one day travel from the site if applicable (requires all missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher)
• Appointment with health care professional such as a doctor, dentist, psychiatrist or licensed professional psychologist (if they attended a part of the day with doctor’s note and were signed out in the office otherwise would just be excused only)
• Observance of a religious holy day (full or partial day) of obligation including a maximum of one day travel to and one day travel from the site if applicable (requires all missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher)
• School-sponsored curricular or extracurricular activity that is NOT UIL related
• UIL activity (requires principal approval)
• College/military visit two junior year two senior year (with prior approval and appropriate verification)
• Activity required by a probation officer (other than court appearances) or Human services activity required by a caseworker (with documentation; requires all missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher)
• Election clerk duties (with documentation) including a maximum of one day travel to and one day travel from the sited if applicable (requires all missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher.
• A visit with a parent, stepparent or legal guardian who is an active duty member of the uniformed services and has been called to duty for, is on leave from or is immediately returned from continuous deployment of at least four months outside the locality where the parent, stepparent or guardian regularly resides up to 5 days during the school year. Documentation must indicate not take earlier than 60 days before the date of deployment or no later than 30 days after the date of return from deployment) (requires al missed assignments to be successfully completed within the timeframe established by the teacher)