Excused/Unexcused Absences Notification

Excused/Unexcused Absences to Parents/Guardians

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As a parent, you play the most important role in the education of your child. In order to make this a successful school year, your child must be in the classroom every day possible. It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure excuses are submitted to your child’s school.

The following process will be followed in all schools:

• The school will record attendance daily and collect excuses for all students absent from school, indicating, if necessary, what interventions have been tried to address attendance problems.
• When a student has 5 unexcused absences the law requires that the parent/guardian be notified.
• A letter from the school will be sent to all parents/guardians of children who have l0 excused or unexcused absences during the entire school year.
• A school administrator and/or school counselor will monitor and provide appropriate interventions.
• If unexcused absences continue the administrator or counselor will submit information about students with a pattern of unexcused absences to the school social worker or other designated school personnel.
• School personnel will assess the situation by talking to the student, parent, and school staff, suggest appropriate interventions, and document attempts to reduce absences. If unexcused absences continue, the school social worker may refer the parent and/or the student to the appropriate court for truancy.

As required under state law and State Board of Education rule, a student’s absences are excused if validated for the following reasons:

1. Personal illness or attendance in school endangers a student’s health or the health of others.
2. A serious illness or death in a student’s immediate family necessitating absence from school.
3. A court order or an order by a governmental agency, including pre-induction physical examinations for service in the armed forces, mandating absence from school.
4. Observing religious holidays, necessitating absence from school.
5. Conditions rendering attendance impossible or hazardous to student health or safety.
6. A student whose parent or legal guardian is in military service in the U.S. armed forces or National Guard, and such parent has been called to duty for or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting will be granted up to 5 days of excused absences per school year to visit with his or her parent prior to the parent’s deployment or during the parent’s leave.
7. Registering to vote or voting in a public election, which shall not exceed one day.
8. A student whose parent or legal guardian is currently serving or previously served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States, in the Reserves of the armed forces of the United States on extended active duty, or in the National Guard on extended active duty may be granted excused absences, up to a maximum of five school days per school year, not to exceed two school years, for the day or days missed from school to attend military affair sponsored events, provided the student provides documentation from: a provider of care at or sponsored by a medical facility of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; or an event sponsored by a corporation exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(l9) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Students shall be counted present when they are serving as pages of the Georgia General Assembly. Foster care students shall be counted as present when attending court proceedings relating to the students’ foster care.

Other absences may be approved by the principal.