Regular and punctual attendance is the greatest single factor in school success. Texas Compulsory Attendance Law requires students to attend school regularly, unless otherwise exempted by law. It is the responsibility of the parent and student to cooperate and communicate with the school on all attendance matters. The key to high school graduation is strong school attendance and parental involvement. Proper documentation must be provided by the student and/or parent/guardian within 48 hours of the student’s return to school after an absence. See LISD Parent & Student Handbook for complete attendance policy. 

TARDIES

• Students must be present and in class at 8:15AM when the bell rings. 

• If a student arrives after 8:15AM, the student MUST check in with Attendance in the Front Office to receive a tardy pass prior to going to class.

• If a student is more than ten (10) minutes late to any given class, the student is marked absent.

ABSENCES

• Parent notes can be submitted via email to LHSattendance@leanderisd.org from the parent/guardian's email address or hand delivered to the Attendance Office by the student before first bell.  All medical notes can also be emailed by the parent or hand delivered by the student. Please include student full name and ID number.

• Attendance cannot be coded based on a phone call, voice mail message or face to face conversation. It must be a note or email as described above for state auditing purposes and per the student handbook.

• If the absence is due to a medical appointment, it is ALWAYS best to turn in a medical note for the absence not to count towards hours owed. 

• For a medical absence not to affect final exemptions, a student must be absent for only part of the day, must have checked in/out at the Attendance Office, and must have turned in a medical note within 48 hours of the absence.

• Please know that emailing your student's teachers does not excuse your student’s absence.

• Truancy letters are automatically generated through the district when your student accrues excessive excused and unexcused absences.

All students’ absences must be verified in writing by a parent. All absences are documented as unverified-unexcused absences are until written verification is received by the school. Written verification of the absence must be received by the school within two (2) days of the student’s return to school. It is best to submit a hand-written note directly to the attendance office. However, a scanned and E-mailed copy of a parent’s note is acceptable if sent from the parent’s E-mail address on file with the registrar. Upon receipt of written verification from a parent for a valid reason, the unverified-unexcused absence will be changed to an excused absence if it is within the current 6 week grading cycle; notes received outside of the current cycle will be added to the student's attendance file but no absences will be changed. Students and parents/guardians may check attendance and grade records for accuracy through their Home Access Center (HAC) account.

All verifications from parents should include the following information:

• 1. Full legal name of student used when enrolled in school (no nicknames or middle names)

• 2. Student’s ID number

• 3. Student’s grade

• 4. Date(s) and/or Class Period(s) of absence

• 5. Reason for absence

• 6. Parent’s signature (if hand written)

• 7. Parent’s phone number

• 8. Current date

Excused Absences:

• Excused absences include, but are not limited to, student personal illness, serious illness or death in family, funeral/memorial, Court hearing where student is summoned to appear, quarantine, medical and/or dental treatment or weather or road conditions that make travel dangerous. Students are required to attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered.  The student will be expected to make up excessive excused absences. Unless the absence is for a statutorily allowed reason under compulsory attendance laws, the district is not required to excuse any absence, even if the parent provides a note explaining the absence.

Unexcused Absences:

• An unexcused absence is any absence that does not meet the definition of an excused absence (examples: personal business, family vacation, missing the bus, shopping trips, other appointments that could be scheduled before or after school, traffic, car trouble, babysitting, employment training, absences where no reason is given, etc.). Any absence resulting from a student’s participation in an activity for an organization not school related is considered unexcused.

Verification of Enrollment (VOE)

Verification of Enrollment forms can be requested online at the LHS Website under 'Resources/Student Resources' or at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflqQn-CF7UkNuXV-8xlUZC6HJZCarjFLgT031PHBnrQCx0hw/viewform and can be picked up in the 1100s office from Caity Jacoby within 24-48 hours after request.  A VOE will be issued as long as the student DOES NOT owe hours due to absences.

Hours Owed/Make-up Attendance Hours

Any student who does not attend 90% of the days a class is offered (excused or unexcused) will be required to make-up attendance hours. Students and/or parents will be notified of the hours a student owes and a plan will be developed with the administration on acceptable ways the student may make-up the hours owed.  The Hours Owed form is located on the Leander High School website under "Resources/Student Resources" or https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfqG-fvv-BvmWJ7dBu-YK65ochWU71T99ieVgFJiUh-O7T6JA/viewform.  Students can contact Yvonne Chambliss in the 1400s office with questions.  

Once a student owes hours for a semester, every additional period or day they miss in that semester will accumulate more hours.  

-1 period missed = 1.5 hours owed                                       

- 1 day missed = 6 hours owed    

EARLY DISMISSALS

PHONE CALLS ARE NOT ACCEPTED FOR EARLY DISMISSAL 

Two ways for students to request a permit to leave campus early: 

• • Submit a parent/guardian note/email BEFORE the first period of the day begins at 8:15am.  If the student is off campus for the first class of the day, the student can bring their parent note to the front office as soon as they arrive for class and receive a pass.

  • The parent/guardian may come to the front office, provide a photo ID, and check their student out. Due to the high volume of requests, please arrive at least 20 minutes BEFORE you need your student to be released. A parent/guardian sign-out does NOT replace the need for a doctor/parent note--proper documentation is still required to code the absence correctly.  

  • Please be advised that any attempt to check out a student during his/her/their lunch or sport period will result in a much longer wait, or an unsuccessful location of the student and a frustrated and wasted trip for the parent.  To avoid this, please send a parent note with your student in the morning so that a Pass to Leave Campus can be given to the student prior to the check out time.

• Parents can email the attendance office to request an Early Dismissal as long as it is within several hours of the student needing to leave.

• In order to avoid delays in your student receiving their Early Dismissal pass, parent notes, emails, and faxes MUST be received by 8:40AM.

• ALL students MUST get their Permit To Leave pass BEFORE school on exam/testing days. We are NOT able to deliver passes or call classrooms during the day on EXAM/TESTING Days. 

• Cut off time for parent check out is 2:45pm on regular school days and 11:30 am on Early Release days.

CORRECTIONS

Leander High School attendance data is gathered by a third party company.  All emails and phone calls about missed classes/days are generated electronically by this company.

• If a student has been incorrectly marked absent in a class, it is the student's responsibility to email the teacher and request a correction.

• The student should include their name, ID #, and the date/period they were incorrectly marked absent.

• If there was a sub, please include a brief description of what was done in class that day so that the teacher can verify if the student was in attendance.

• The Attendance Office is unable to correct attendance until we have received confirmation, via email, from the teacher requesting the change for state auditing purposes.

• Please note: Attendance corrections can only be made for the current grading cycle. 

COLLEGE VISITS

The District may excuse a student from attending school to visit an institution of higher education accredited by a generally recognized accrediting organization during the student’s junior and senior years of high school for the purpose of determining the student’s interest in attending the institution of higher education. The District may not excuse more than two (2) days during the student’s junior year and two (2) days during the student’s senior year. Official verification of the absence from the institution of higher education must be provided within 48 hours of the student’s return to school.

• Official campus visit verification from the institution of higher education must be provided to LHS attendance within 2 days of the student's return to school.  A map of the campus, itinerary, parking permit, an email verifying your appointment or picture of student at campus will not be sufficient documentation. 

• Verification of the college visit must be on official college letterhead and include the student's full name, ID #, grade, and date of the visit.