Attendance, Engagement and Truancy Policy

Ohio Virtual Academy has certain responsibilities under Ohio’s Compulsory Educational Laws. The responsibility for compliance with this law belongs to the parents, but the school is obliged to keep an accurate record of attendance. If attendance is logged for a student but there is no evidence of instructional activities being completed OHVA considers that the student has not “entered into the building” and will assume that the attendance hours that were recorded are not accurate and the hours will be adjusted accordingly.

A student can prove that they have “entered into the building” and are on pace for on-time completion by working within the curriculum, submitting assignments, attending live Class Connect sessions, viewing recordings, working within supplemental resources, and communicating with OHVA staff Courses are designed to be interactive and require regular participation. A student’s extended periods of absence from school will be evident in the following ways:

• failure to input attendance hours

• failure to log in to courses regularly

• failure to complete assignments

• failure to communicate with teachers and advisors and act on their requests

• failure to attend classes or actively participate while logged in

• failure of courses/lack of progress in the curriculum

In order for OHVA to demonstrate that a student ison pace for on -time completion of courses , a student’s progress must match the attendance recorded. There must be evidence of learning in order for OHVA to consider the attendance hours valid. If an OHVA teacher or advisor cannot see evidence of learning they will require the learning coach and student to provide detailed information of what was completed during the recorded attendance hours through email.

The Ohio Department of Education requires that OHVA offers at least 920 hours of learning opportunities to its students. Kindergarten students are offered at least 460 hours of learning opportunities. Not only is there a direct correlation between attendance and student achievement, OHVA's operational funding is based on each student’s valid documentation of the required 920 hours of attendance for 1st – 12th grade, while kindergarten requires 460 attendance hours by the end of the year. Required hours of attendance will be prorated for late enrollees. Students should complete at least 920 attendance hours (460 attendance hours by ½ day Kindergarten students) by the last day of the school year in order for the school to receive full state funding. K – 5 students must also show completion of at least 90% of the expected percentage of the curriculum by the end of the year in order for achievement to match the attendance requirement.

If the student is going to be absent from school, the advisor must be contacted. One week prior to the absence is the general expectation for any foreseen absences (see examples below). If the reason for the absence falls outside of the “reasonable” situations set forth below, the advisor will consult with the principal to determine whether or not the absence will be excused. It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with each teacher regarding missed assignments. It is the preference of the school that students, whenever possible, “work ahead” prior to an absence rather than falling behind and having to “catch up”.

The following factors are considered to be “reasonable” excuses for not logging into the online school:

• Personal illness – written physician’s statements may be required to verify extended or repeated illness

• Death in the immediate family

• Observation or celebration of a religious holiday

• Other such good cause as determined by the principal

Ohio Virtual Academy courses are available 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. A missed day of school during the week can be made up on the weekend or completed over the course of several days. To avoid truancy and issues with assignment due dates, communicate with teachers and advisors regarding any planned vacations or illnesses that may be misinterpreted as truancy. Contact with the advisor or teachers concerning absences must be made by the learning coach by phone or email, although students are encouraged to contact the teacher to learn the details of missed assignments. Students may not facilitate the absence notification on their parent’s behalf.

In any instance where technical difficulties are a problem with your school-supplied computer or other hardware or software, it is required that the learning coach contact K12 technical support immediately at 1.866.626.6413 so qualified technicians can assist in resolving your problem. A student or parent must request the name of the technician and the ticket number and report them to the advisor or teacher within 24 hours. Computer problems are not valid reasons for seeking extended time on assignments or test due dates or as a reason why a student has not been working in their assigned courses or attending class connect sessions.

In order to stay on target with assignment due dates, all students are required to seek alternative ways to access the Internet, such as a library or family member’s computer. The computer is your classroom and it needs to be available every school day.

An OHVA student will be considered truant (absent without cause) if the parent or learning coach fails to log/record any attendance hours, provide documentation excusing student for missed hours, or show any learning is taking place during recorded attendance, at 30 consecutive hours, 38/42 missing hours in one month or 65/72 missing hours per year. A written notification of truancy will be issued when the student meets the above mentioned thresholds. If a student has attendance recorded but no physical proof of learning can be shown upon teacher or other OHVA staff request, the attendance hours will be removed . Attendance hours may only be counted for actual learning time. Continued truancy of 72 consecutive missing hours will result in a withdrawal from OHVA consistent with Ohio law. Prior to withdrawal, a truant student could be referred to the Absence Intervention Team (AIT) The AIT will develop Absence Intervention Plan (AIP) which will incorporate academic and non-academic supports to help the student and remove barriers to regular attendance. As part of OHVA’s absence intervention process, OHVA may require student to attend attendance counseling sessions, parents to attend parental involvement educational programs, notification to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, and possibly filing of Complaint in Juvenile Court.

An OHVA student may also be considered truant for progression if, even in the presence of logged attendance hours, the student is not progressing/participating in their courses. Failure to make progress that aligns with logged attendance may result in a finding of progression truancy and referral to the AIT will be made to develop a plan as stated above.

OHVA Special Education Truancy Policy