Attendance, Truancy & Withdrawals

Utah Revised Statutes 15-901(A)(2) requires all public schools offer a minimum of one-hundred- eighty (180) days of instruction between July 1 and June 30. Additionally, Utah State statute requires a minimum number of instructional hours by grade level:

• Grades 6-8 990 Yearly Hours 27.5 Required Weekly Hours 5.5 Required Daily Hours

UTVA students may log instructional time anytime between the first, and last day of the school year. Instructional time must be related directly to lesson objectives which are aligned to the Utah Academic Standards.

HOW IS ATTENDANCE TAKEN AT UTVA?

Student attendance is counted by the days the student logs into the student account and also by the hours of school work logged by the learning coach.

Attendance from logging into the school is taken Monday through Friday. UTVA students may log into the online school on the weekend to work through the curriculum, but this will not count towards attendance.

Attendance is counted both by the days and hours of school work marked. If your student has attendance marked every day but it is below the minimum number of hours those hours will accumulate to become days of absences. In addition, if a student consistently does more hours than the minimum required those additional hours do not add up to additional days.

Attendance needs to be marked for at least 180 separate days during the school year, Monday through Friday, and the cumulative hours must add up to at least 990 hours.

ATTENDANCE AND COURSE PROGRESS

Attendance must match the amount of progress marked in the OLS. If the amount of attendance does not match the amount of progress, teachers have the option of removing attendance that is not connected to OLS progress. Removal of attendance hours can cause the student to fall below 5 consecutive days behind in attendance.

If less than 5.5 hours of attendance is marked every day, the student will fall below the minimum number of education hours required by the State of Utah.

If your student has attendance marked every day, but it is below the minimum number of hours, those hours will accumulate to become days of absences.

EXCESSIVE ABSENTEEISM

As a public charter school, Utah Virtual Academy is required to monitor student attendance in accordance with all applicable statutes and Utah State Board of Education Rules. UTVA students are considered excessively absent if no attendance is logged for 5 consecutive school days(without a legitimate excuse), or at a rate that is 5% or more below the required threshold by grade level for the number of days the student has been enrolled.

UTVA employs an Attendance Clerk to monitor student attendance. The clerk notifies families via an auto-dialer phone system and Email, when a student is in danger of being expelled due to excessive absenteeism.

1. K-8 teachers will send a Email or conduct a phone conference informing Learning Coaches that their student is in danger of being absent for 5 or more days, or if the attendance is 5% less than the time mandated by state requirements.

2. Failure to respond to teacher within 24 hours and/or failure to make up missing days and hours could result in student being withdrawn or expelled due to excessive absenteeism. Should this happen, a letter is sent to the Learning Coach via e-mail and certified mail that notifies the Learning Coach that the student has been withdrawn from UTVA due to excessive absenteeism.

3. Students withdrawn from UTVA for excessive absenteeism will be allowed to re-enroll one time with permission from UTVA administration. Students re-enrolling after excessive absenteeism will be placed on a re-enrollment plan.

4. If a family does not fulfill the re-enrollment plan, the student is withdrawn from UTVA due to excessive absenteeism for a second time and no longer eligible for re-enrollment.

CLASS-CONNECT ATTENDANCE

Students must attend live Class-Connect sessions unless they meet all three of the following criteria:

· Obtain 100% Expected Progress in the OLS curriculum

· Have an assessment average of 90% or above (in all subjects)

· Scored Highly Proficient on the Sage Summative

Students that meet this criteria are required to attend half of the live ClassConnect sessions each term. However, it is recommended that students attend as many ClassConnect sessions as possible to maintain a high level of proficiency.

*ClassConnect opt-out option available. Opt-out decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES

The learning coach must log into the OLS every day to log hours. If your student takes the day off please mark a “0” for at least one class.

1. Add hours in the subjects the student worked in that day.

2. You may count computer and book time.

3. Need additional assistance? Watch our Recording Attendance video.

TRUANCY

According to the Utah Compulsory Attendance Laws (Utah Code 53A-11-101-105), parents and students are responsible for regular school attendance. Occasionally a student must be absent from school for reasons which are acceptable to the school and the courts, such as illness, medical appointments, family emergencies, or a death of family member or close friend. If you need to excuse an absence for your student:

· Report the absence through the following link: http://utahvirtualacademy.org/attendance/ within 2 days of the absence.

Failure to attend school or report absences correctly may result in your student becoming truant at UTVA and may result in the student being referred to juvenile court for habitual truancy.

1. Students 12 and older: If attendance is NOT logged for 5 unexcused days your student will be placed on a truancy list.

· Failure to update attendance could result in a referral to juvenile court for habitual truancy.

· After 10 days of unexcused absences the student may be withdrawn from UTVA for truancy.

2. Students 11 and younger: If attendance is NOT logged for 5 unexcused days your student will be placed on a truancy list.

· Failure to update attendance could result in a referral to their County District Attorney for accountability measures.

· After 10 days of unexcused absences the student may be withdrawn from UTVA for truancy.

ABSENCES

Students must meet the required attendance hours cumulatively by the end of each week, month, and school year. Should a circumstance occur that requires an absence that cannot be made up within the school week, Learning Coaches will contact the student’s teacher to make a plan for success while the student is out of school.

EXCUSED ABSENCES

According to the Utah Compulsory Attendance Laws (Utah Code 53A-11-101-105), parents and students are responsible for regular school attendance. Occasionally a student must be absent from school for reasons which are acceptable to the school and the courts, such as illness, medical appointments, family emergencies, or a death of family member or close friend.

ABSENCES 1-2 DAYS

If you need to excuse an absence for your student, the parent must report the absence through the following link: http://utahvirtualacademy.org/attendance/

ABSENCES OVER 2 DAYS

Students that are going to be absent more than 2 days need to create a plan with the

students’ teacher so that the student doesn’t fall behind. This plan may require the student to turn in work before the absence or turn in the work by a certain date after the absence. Failure to follow this plan will result in the school removing the excused absences causing the student to have unexcused absences.

If you are going to be absent more than 3 consecutive days, you should do the following:

1. Fill out the attendance interruption form at this link: http://utahvirtualacademy.org/attendance/

2. Call your student’s teachers to set up a plan.

3. Follow the plan so your student doesn’t fall behind in the course

ILLNESS/EXTENDED INABILITY TO PARTICIPATE

If an unexpected situation should arise and there is an extended leave of three days or more needed from courses, you should do the following:

1. Report the absence through the following link: http://utahvirtualacademy.org/attendance

2. Determine if Internet access is available (through libraries, etc.) so your student can access school while absent

3. Immediately contact teachers and the academic advisor to explain the situation and make a plan for work while your student is absent

WITHDRAWING STUDENTS

Learning Coaches of students who are withdrawing from Utah Virtual Academy, must contact their homeroom teacher, and notify him/her of their desire to withdraw. K12â contacts Learning Coaches to schedule an exit interview and to arrange for the return of all school equipment and materials. Failure to return all school equipment and materials in satisfactory condition may result in collections action.

ADMINISTRATIVE WITHDRAWALS FROM UTVA

Students may be removed from UTVA due to truancy or from a policy violation. Any student who has been administratively withdrawn must be approved for re-enrollment by the principal and Head of School. Parents may appeal the withdrawal decision to the principal or Head of School. The decision of the administrative team is final.

PARENT-INITIATED WITHDRAWALS FROM UTVA

Learning Coaches of students who are withdrawing from the Utah Virtual Academy must contact their UTVA teacher and notify him/her of their desire to withdraw and the next step of the student’s academic plan. K12 contacts Learning Coaches to schedule an exit interview and to arrange for the return of all school equipment and materials.

Failure to return all school equipment and materials in satisfactory condition may result in a collections action.