ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES

Reporting to School

Students are expected to report to school sufficiently early to pass through the security/scanning process. Boys report to the “F” door by the gym office. Girls report to the main lobby. Ninth grade enters through the lower level.

All students are due in their seminar by 7:42 A.M. Students who fail to report to seminar by 7:42 A.M. will be marked late to school. Repeated offenses will lead to disciplinary action. All students are expected to come to school in uniform and be prepared with appropriate learning materials daily.

Seminar

The seminar period begins at 7:42 A.M., prior to 1st period. Seminar is an assigned period, designated on your roster and report card as “seminar”. All students are required to attend seminar. Students are to remain in their respective seminar until the first period bell. Students who attend seminar, promptly, each day will receive .25 credits towards graduation per school year. Students who have 4 or more unexcused absences or who are late 6 or more times in a marking period will be given a failing grade for seminar.

Lateness to School

Students arriving late for school are to enter the school building through the main lobby doors, only. Students are considered late for advisory at 7:42. Students who bring in a parent or guardian for official school business will be permitted to enter through the main entrance (Cottman Ave.). All students who arrive late to school must “scan-in” and obtain a late slip. Students are expected to be in school and on time every day. For every three latenesses, students will receive a Saturday detention. Every sixth lateness will require a student to bring a parent for a conference.

Absence Notes

Regular attendance is vitally important to all aspects of school life, especially student achievement.

1. Students who are absent from school must bring a verifiable excuse note on the day of their return to school, which is signed by their parent, stating the reason for and the date(s) of the absence. The note is to be given to their advisor. Northeast High School will not honor excuse notes after 5 days of the absence.
2. Failure to produce a proper note will result in a coding of “unexcused absence” in the roll book and on Infinite Campus. A coding of “unexcused absence” does not allow for a student to make up any missed schoolwork.
3. Upon returning to school, students are responsible for making arrangements with their teachers to make up the work that they missed as a result of their absence. Teachers also share in this responsibility for determining a reasonable and specific time period for the completion of the missed work.
4. Eight unexcused absences will automatically place a student into our Tier II Response to Instructional Intervention(RtII).
5. Ten consecutive unexcused absences will cause a student to automatically be placed in “Active Office Roll” (AOR) status. Students placed in AOR status must go through the entire admissions process to return to regular status. There is no guarantee that a student, who is placed in AOR status, will be placed in the same program or receive the same roster upon his/her re-admittance to school.

NOTE: Students who expect to be absent for more than three consecutive days should contact their counselor to get missed work. Students who expect to be absent due to a health issue for more than four consecutive weeks should contact the nurse for Homebound Instruction.

Religious Observation

Students who are absent from or late to school because of participation in a religious obligation must present a note from their parent or guardian stating the place and time of the obligation.

Request for Absence from School

The school recognizes that there are times when it becomes necessary for a parent or guardian to request that his/her child(ren) be absent from school for a short period of time for reasons other than illness. When this becomes necessary the following procedure is to be followed:

1. At least one week prior to the requested dates of absence, the parent/guardian is to write a note explaining the reason for the absence and the anticipated dates of the absence. The note must be signed by the parent/guardian and contain a phone number where the parent/guardian can be reached for verification of the note.
2. The student is to bring the note to an administrator for approval.
3. The student is to present the memo to his/her teachers for their signature and to make arrangements for any work that will be missed during the period of absence
4. When completely signed, the memo is to be returned to the administrator who will keep it on file.
5. Vacations are NOT excused absences.

Failure to follow this procedure may result in the absences being marked as unexcused and the student being denied the opportunity to make up missed work. All other emergency situations will be handled as they arise.

Northeast High School honors the time we have with our students and has limited staff. Therefore, we are unable to honor parent or guardian requests to call students to the office for any reason.

Early Dismissals

No student will be permitted to leave the building early unless a parent/guardian comes to the main office to sign out the student. This rule applies for all students regardless of age. Parents/Guardians MUST have a government issued ID and be listed the legal guardian or emergency contact on the School Computer Network.

Medical and dental appointments should be scheduled after school hours. However, for those that must be made during school hours, a parent/guardian must come into the building and sign out the student in the main office. No student is allowed to leave the building on his/her own. This rule applies for all students regardless of age. For medical emergencies, students must see the nurse. All students, regardless of age, who are being dismissed early due to illness, must have a parent or guardian pick them up.

For school approved athletic events, all students requiring early dismissals must provide teachers with early dismissal slips prior to leaving the building so they are not marked cutting.

Leaving the Building

Only students who are being dismissed with a parent/guardian or students with special rosters are permitted to leave the building prior to the end of the school day. These students are to exit the building immediately either with their parents or after their last period. These students must exit the building using the doors that are located on the Cottman Avenue side of the building. Failure to do so will result in revoking a student’s special roster and/or progressive disciplinary action. Students, who leave school without permission, will be subject to progressive disciplinary actions, up to and including suspension.

Class Attendance/Cutting

Students are considered to have cut if they are marked present in school but do not attend class. Students who cut class will receive a zero for that class and will not be permitted to make up missed work. Students showing appropriate documentation for absences are required to meet with their teachers to determine an appropriate date for the completion of make-up work. Additionally, students who cut class will face progressive disciplinary consequences, which include but are not limited to after-school detention, Saturday detention, and in-house suspension from school. Missing class due to a late arrival is considered a “late cut.”

Hall Passes

Students who need to leave class during class time must obtain a hall pass. Please note that teachers have been instructed not to allow students to leave class for the first fifteen minutes of class time.

ACT 29 of 1995 (TRUANCY)

Students who report to school and cut classes are considered to be truant by the courts. Students cutting school are truant. Truancy petitions will be prepared and turned over to the proper authorities for the initiation of legal action(s), including fines, etc. against students and parents/guardians. Act 29 provides for a $300 fine and allows the court to impose parent education classes and community service sentences for the parents of a truant child who do not show that they took reasonable steps to ensure their child’s school attendance. It provides that the parent and child must appear at a hearing before the district magistrate. Act 29 also provides that truant students lose their driver’s license for 90 days for a first offense, 6 months for a second offense.