Analysis: The Board is working hard in making all members of the school community aware of their policy, its objectives, procedures and the consequences of disobedience. Various procedures are followed by the board to ensure that students, parents, teachers and administrators follow the rules and regulations of the policy in a very stringent manner which includes the attendance policy being reviewed with the students at the beginning of the academic year either by putting it up on the district’s website or included in the students’ handbooks.
Other procedures include parents getting a summary of the policy in layman’s language at the beginning of the academic session. Parents of children who are joining at the entry level, seventh graders or those who are new to the district are made to sign and return a copy of the statement which indicates that they have gone through the policy as well as understood it. Apart from these procedures, the Board also organizes regular sessions to explain the nuances of the policy with special emphasis on the parent’s role in ensuring adequate attendance of their child/children. [Policy No: 603, Supercedes Policy No: 603, 2001]

For the attendance policy to become more effective, school magazines and other related journals are used as reminders of various issues related to the policy. The district also provides details of the attendance policy to all faculty and staff members. Parents of students taking more than 4 days leave during a quarter in their elementary and junior high schools would receive a summary of the policy in their report cards which the parents would then have to sign and return along with a statement which indicates that they have gone through the document and understood it.

For those between the grades K-12, parents are notified by attendance staff and informed about the attendance policy, if their child is absent from school without intimation by parents through telephone call or permission letter. Whereas in grades K-9, students who have 4 or more un-intimated or unexcused absences from class or school during a quarter, their names are forwarded to the Principal for review of attendance intervention procedures with the students and their parents. In the case of grades 10-12, when a student takes leave from school without a genuine reason, his/her parent is intimated and if the leaves taken form a pattern, it is identified and the grade level administrator or designee takes necessary action regarding it.

Only a few excuses for students being absent from school, being late to the school or early dismissal from school is considered valid as per the Board of Education. These genuine excuses include the student being unwell; someone in the family being unwell; death or emergency; roads being blocked or bad weather conditions; any religious ceremony at home or in the family; quarantine; the student to be present in some court hearing; doctor’s appointment or being sent by the school for any event. [Revised Class Attendance Policy, (effective SP03), 2004]

Early intervention is a key component to effective attendance of all students. It starts from when a child joins an elementary school. When a student is late for elementary school, the parent is supposed to accompany and sign in their child. According to the attendance policy, children are considered ‘late for elementary school’ is they are arriving to school after the door is locked.

Some of the procedures followed by various educational institutes for the attendance policy to become more effective are like students in grades K-6 have their attendance recorded as soon as they reach the school every day. In the case of students of Grades 7-12, they can have their attendance recorded anytime during each period of instruction. By the end of each school day, all the attendance information is duly recorded, compiled and given to the designated attendance staff members to take necessary action. Attendance data of each student is analyzed quarterly to found out it has any specific pattern or trend of the student to be absent from school. [School Safety, Discipline, & Attendance, 2001]

Apart from monitoring the attendance of students on a regular basis, the attendance policy goes a step forward in order to be more effective by providing attendance incentives to the students. The Board in tandem with the district develops and implements age-appropriate systems to recognize students’ effort to maintain a desired school attendance. Students with outstanding attendance or who have improved their attendance are suitably rewards in various ways be by providing recognition breakfast or participation in quarterly events.

For students who have less than the required attendance have to go through various disciplinary actions based on the district’s code of conduct which could range from detention to in-school suspension. There are also chances of them no being able to take part in extracurricular activities. Apart from these, parents are also notified and the attendance policy is brought to their notice.

Conclusion: Education law, Article 65 states that it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to see that minors (age 6-16) attend school regularly for the entire time the school is in session. Students need to follow regular school attendance for them to become regular in their academics and to achieve the desired educational excellence. The attendance policy has been quite effective is setting a standard in students complying with preferred school attendance.