Attendance

Regular school attendance is essential to your child’s success at Central High School.  Our teachers take great pride in the level of their instruction; therefore, every day is important.  In high school, attendance is calculated by class period.  As these missed periods accumulate, through tardies or check-outs, your child’s attendance is significantly affected. Please keep this in mind when planning doctor appointments or vacations.  

By law, students must also meet a seat time requirement in order to earn class credit.  Students who have more than 7 absences per class period do not meet the seat time requirement and must appeal in writing to the principal or the principal's designee to receive earned credit.  Please refer to the information below to receive more specific information about Carroll County’s policy on attendance.

ATTENDANCE (Carroll County Board Policy JB)

Attendance has a vital bearing on a student’s educational process.  Any middle or high school student having more than 7 absences (lawful and/or unlawful) in a class during a semester will receive no credit for the class unless a waiver is granted through the appeals process by the principal or the principal's designee.  Students who have more than 7 absences must appeal in writing to the principal or the principal's designee to receive earned credit. If any absences are unlawful, the principal or designee shall determine whether there exist unusual conditions or extenuating circumstances relating to the student's personal life or family situation, which would require that the provisions of this policy be waived.  If so, the student shall be allowed to make up missed work and shall not be denied credit for the semester based on excessive absences.  All make-up work must be completed within two weeks after the end of the semester.  If the student has any unexcused absences and there are no unusual conditions or extenuating circumstances relating to the student's personal life or family situation, the student shall not be allowed to receive credit for the semester, even if the student has passing grades.

 Any student missing 7 consecutive days without contacting the school will be notified by school personnel that they will be withdrawn within five working days if the school is not notified as to the reason for absence.  This applies only to those students not affected by the compulsory attendance law.

To promote attendance and encourage parental involvement, parental contact will be attempted on the date of absence. Additionally, the following contacts as specified in GADOE Board Rule 160-5-5-.10 and in accordance with Carroll County Student Attendance Protocol will be made to the parent, guardian or other person who has control or charge of the student:

    1. When a student has five unexcused absences, notices of penalties and consequences for these and subsequent absences.

    2.  By September 1 of each school year or within 30 school days of a student's enrollment in  the school system, a written summary of possible consequences and penalties for failure to comply with compulsory attendance.

    3. Notice to students age 14 or older when the student has only three absences remaining before violating the state's compulsory attendance requirements pursuant to O.C.G.A. 40-5-2 regarding the denial of driver's permits and licenses. Be aware that state law requires CHS report to the DMV any student who accumulates 10 or more unexcused absences in the current school year or 10 or more school days of unexcused absences in the previous academic school year. Driving privileges of those students will be revoked by the DMV. State law also requires students applying for learner’s permit or a driver’s license present to the DMV a certificate of attendance verifying that the student has not accumulated 10 or more unexcused absences during the current school year. 

The following are those excuses that can be defined as lawful:

• When a student is personally ill and when attendance in school would endanger his/her health or the health of others;

  • The school will allow a maximum of five absences per year to be excused on the authority of written parent notes. The principal can exercise discretion in extreme cases of hardship to accept written parent notes in excess of the standard five per year. Additional absences will be excused only with an original medical excuse signed by a health care professional.

·         When in a student's immediate family there is a serious illness or death which would reasonably necessitate absence from school;

·         On special and recognized religious holidays observed by his/her faith;

·         When mandated by order of governmental agencies

• When a student whose parent or legal guardian is in military service in the armed forces of the United States or the National Guard, and such parent or legal guardian has been called to duty for or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, a student shall be granted excused absences up to a maximum of five school days per school year for the day or days missed from school to visit with his or her parent or legal guardian prior to such parent's or legal guardian's deployment or during such parent's or legal guardian's leave.  

All other absences are considered unlawful.