Attendance

Hazelbrook Middle School Attendance

Tardy and Skipping Policy and Response 2022–23

Last year we witnessed an increased presence of students in the halls after the bell rang and the class was to begin. Representatives of our PBIS team met to discuss data and anecdotal feedback about the tardy concerns. 

The following attendance policies have been outlined to bring clarity and support that will promotes student attendance and timeliness.  

1. Tardies (Unexcused Late)

Definition: When a student is not inside the classroom at the time instruction is to start (at the bell to start class). If a student’s body is inside the classroom when the bell for class rings they should not be counted as tardy. 

Tardies will be tracked on a per class, per quarter basis and attendance data will be used to identify struggling students in need of intervention.

School-wide supports we will do to encourage and help students to be on time

1. Staff will be in the halls to connect with, praise, and encourage students toward classes. 

2. Staff will make efforts to greet students at the door personally. 

3. Create start-of-class activities and routines to start class with an engaging and positive experience.

4. Take attendance daily and every period within the first ten minutes of class as part of the beginning of the class routine.

5. Teach/reteach school expectations for being on time. (See definition above.)

6. Intentionally teach students when social time is and isn’t to promote prosocial connection during the appropriate times. 

7. We will ensure that there is adequate time for transitions between classes and activities.

8. Admin and office staff will have assigned supervision in halls during passing time to maintain coverage in high-impact areas such as restrooms.

9. Supervision staff will do conscious hallway sweeps using positive prompts to encourage students to get to class on time.

10. Supervision staff will do bathroom sweeps between all periods to ensure students are not lingering in bathrooms or hallways.

11. There will be positive celebration and reinforcements for on-time behavior.

12. Create an end-of-class routine to close out class, prepare kids for transition, and hold kids in seats until the bell rings. 

Classroom-Based Actions for Tardies (Recorded Per Class and Per Quarter)

Tardy 1:  Positive affirmation/4:1 and friendly reminders from teacher to student tied 

    to your community agreements/norms/school (no referral).

Tardy 2:    1:1 check-in between teacher and student. The teacher initiates check-in with students using a neutral correction procedure (no referral)

Tardy 3:    Team approach: restorative conversation (teacher team/learning specialist/counselor/ parent support). Remove barriers to attendance and develop incentivizing plans to be on time.

Share with parent/guardian the steps taken with a phone call home.

Remind parents they can monitor student attendance in real-time with Parentvue. Contact our registrar (English Speaking) at 503-431-5120 or Family Liason (Spanish Speaking) at 503-431-5130 to set up Parentvue if they need assistance. (no referral.)

***Before referring a student to lunch detention for 4+ tardies, we will have individually checked in with the student, communicate with your team about how to support the student and connect with the student’s family. ***

Tardy 4: Lunch Detention—Students are assigned lunch detention. The teacher fills out a lunch detention slip for the student. The lunch Supervisor will schedule lunch detention. Students will spend time calling home to discuss lateness to class with their parents. Students will participate in an experience to establish the why, when, what, and how to improve and support a change with tardiness (no referral). 

• Start over the count. Tardy 1-4 again equals further communication and lunch detentions. 

• Students in lunch detention will be recorded and tracked. 2nd time presence in lunch detentions will trigger a tier 2 intervention.

• Attendance Secretary will pull an “Unexcused Late” list from the previous week and send a letter of concern home to those families. Students that repeatedly show up on the list across periods will receive wraparound support from the team on a proactive basis.

• We will use Synergy data pulls to proactively intervene on tardies and refer chronic tardiness to the tier 2 team for support. 

II. Skipping   

Definition: Avoiding a student’s designated class schedule to engage in non-educational activities either at school or off-campus. 

Students without a valid pass to excuse them and miss any section of class beginning, middle, or end for 20 minutes or more will be considered skipping. 

“Unexcused Absences” Marked if the student never came to class.

“Unexcused Late” Marked if tardy to class

First skipping incident:

Step One: Office discipline referral filled out by whoever discovers the student skipping to document the event. Attendance data will be used as best as it can be to identify student skipping incidences.

Step Two: The administration or office staff conduct an empathy interview with the student to identify barriers and supports that are needed. (Highly recommended that teachers also have empathy conversations if students are avoidant of class to discover why that is and if a barrier can be removed.)

What's happening? 

Why did it happen? 

What is the impact of skipping? 

What can be done to make things right? 

What will keep things right? 

How can others support you?

Step Three: Call home by dean/administrator. Remove barriers or set up support for being in class.

Step Four: The student is assigned after-school time to make up school work and time missed from class. Teachers can provide guidance about what students can work on. 

Second skipping incident:

Step One: Office Discipline Referral is written. 

Repeat Steps Two and Three named above. 

Step Four: After-School time is assigned. Invite the family to discuss further support and barriers to resolve the skipping concern.

Third skipping incident:

Step One: Initiate Steps 1-4 above.

Step Two: The student is referred to tier 2 for further intervention. 

Step Three: The student is supported with a tier 2 intervention.