Attendance 

Absences: CCSD Policy 5113 states that enrolled must attend regularly in accordance with the Nevada Revised Statutes. When a child is absent, tardy, or leaves early from class, important instruction is missed. Although makeup work is required, time lost in school is learning that cannot be fully replicated through makeup work. 

Please note: Attendance is of the utmost importance, however, if your child is ill, experiencing symptoms of illness, or is identified as a student required to quarantine, DO NOT send them to school. Please call our health office to provide them with information related to the symptoms, and follow the documentation procedures below.

Documenting an Absence: Upon return from school,  a student must submit documentation of the absence which includes the child’s name, date of absence, reason the child was unable to attend school, and signature (parent/guardian/doctor). It MUST be turned in within three school days at  https://bit.ly/GrizzlyAbsenceReport or a hard-copy of the document may be turned in at school. It is appropriate for students to be absent only if they are mentally or physically unable to attend school, if the child is placed on isolation or quarantine, or if the absence is approved via Pre-arranged absence guidelines below. 

Absences due to Isolation/Quarantine: In some circumstances, students will be required to remain at home when placed on isolation or quarantine by health services. All Griffith students will be provided with school tech device and if isolated/quarantined, will participate in learning while at home via Canvas and our online systems. Students who do not participate as required during an isolation/quarantine will be considered absent and if they do participate as required they will be considered present. If students are ill and unable to participate, they will be considered absent due to illness and you will follow normal procedures. For these situations, there are more specific return-to-school requirements that will be explained by our health office staff. To ensure the health and safety of all our Grizzlies, when placed on isolation/quarantine, DO NOT send them to to school unless they are cleared by health office. 

Family Notification of Absences: Computer-generated letters are sent to families informing them of a child’s absence record, including excused or unexcused absences for the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 15th absences. Referral to our student support team and/or an RPC conference is required if absences are increasing or excessive.  More than 20 absences (excused or unexcused) during the school year will trigger an automatic retention review. Fewer absences combined with failure to meet grade level standards may also be a reason for retention.  

Pre-arranged absences: If you plan to be gone for any reason and your child needs to miss school, call our school or fill out the form at https://bit.ly/GrizzlyAbsenceReport to request a pre-arranged absence which may or may not be approved. Also, contact the teacher to get the needed work/assignments. Absences for which students do not complete assigned makeup work are considered unapproved. In all cases, no more than 10 absences will be pre-approved per year.

Late Arrival/Early-Out: Late arrival and early outs are a serious disruption to the educational process and infringe upon both the time to teach and the educational rights of other students. Students are expected to arrive promptly at 8:40 AM every day. The tardy bell rings at 9:00 AM and students should be in their seats by that time. Our front/back gates will close at 8:55 AM and after that time students must sign in through the front office and will have an entry of late arrival in Infinite Campus. Students picked up early from school will also be counted as an early check out. Please note: Depending on the time of the late arrival or early out, your child will receive a half (missed 1 hour, 55 minutes or more) or full day absence (3 hours 45 minutes or more). Students who are consistently late or who leave early will be referred to our school support team and/or be assigned a Required Parent Conference. 

Pick-Up During School Hours: We encourage you to make appointments after school hours so that your child does not miss instruction. If you must pick your child up early from school, you must first come to the office and present identification. We will then call your child from the classroom. We will NOT call students from the classroom ahead of time to wait for the family to pick up. 

We exercise extreme care when releasing children from our school. Anyone picking up a student from the office will be asked for identification and MUST be 18 or older. If your child will be picked up in a manner different from your normal procedure or by someone other than the usual pick-up person, please notify our office in writing and be sure that arrangements are made AHEAD of time so that the process will be smooth and you will not be upset if we are unable to accommodate you at the last minute. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. 

If you are picking up from the front/back gates or kiss and go, be SURE to have your printed family number along with your identification in the case that you need to show it to dismissal staff.

IMPORTANT: Students will not be released from class after 2:30 PM as this is an important time of day in which they will be receiving instructions, homework, and will be preparing for dismissal.  

**Tardiness: “A student is to be marked tardy who is not physically present in the classroom at the start of the instructional day…” 

**Absenteeism: “An elementary student shall be recorded as absent for half of the day if more than one hour and fifty-five minutes of the instructional day are missed and recorded as absent for the entire day if more than three hours and forty-five minutes of the instructional day are missed”.

 **Retention: “Elementary students who exceed twenty (20) unapproved absences during the school year shall be retained in the current grade”.