ATTENDANCE

(1) DEFINITIONS.

(a) Foster Care Student - a student who is in a foster home or otherwise in the foster care system under the Division of Family and Children Services of he Department of Human Services.

(b) Student Attendance Protocol – procedures to be used in identifying, reporting, investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged violations of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690.1, relating to mandatory school attendance and appropriately addressing the issue with parents and guardians. The protocol shall also include recommendations for policies relating to tardiness.

(c) Student Attendance Protocol Committee – a committee established by the chief judge of the superior court of each county for the purpose of ensuring coordination and cooperation among officials, agencies and programs involved in compulsory attendance issues, to reduce the number of unexcused absences from school, and to increase the percentage of students present to take tests which are required to be administered under the laws of this state.

(c) Truant – any child subject to compulsory attendance who during the school calendar year has more than five days of unexcused absences.

The White County Board of Education complies with all requirements of state law, state BOE rule, and the Student Attendance Protocol that has been developed by the county’s Student Attendance Protocol Committee.

(2) REQUIREMENTS.

(a) School days missed as a result of an out of school suspension shall not count as unexcused days for the purpose of determining student truancy.

(b) The White County Board of Education (WCBOE) shall adopt policies and procedures excusing students from school under the following circumstances, as a minimum. Policies may require submission of appropriate documentation.

1. Personal illness or attendance in school endangering a student’s health or the health of others. This includes appointments with health professionals, i.e. doctors and dentists.

(i) WCBOE may require students to present appropriate medical documentation upon return to school for the purpose of validating that the absence is an excused absence. With proper verification a student may be eligible for hospital/homebound instruction as outlined in State Board of Education Rule 160-4-2-.31 Hospital/Homebound Instruction.

2. A serious illness or death in a student’s immediate family (father, mother, grandparent, great grandparent, brother, sister, husband, wife, child, or relative residing permanently and continuously in the student’s home) necessitating absence from school.

(i) In the event of a serious illness in a student’s immediate family, local boards of education may require students to present appropriate medical documentation regarding the family member upon return to school for the purpose of validating that the absence is an excused absence.

3. A court order or an order by a governmental agency, including preinduction physical examinations for service in the armed forces, mandating absence from school.

4. Observing religious holidays, necessitating absence from school.

5. Conditions rendering attendance impossible or hazardous to student health or safety.

6. The WCBOE authorizes high school administrators to allow for eligible students, a period, not to exceed one day, for registering to vote or voting in a public election.

7. A student whose parent or legal guardian is in military service in the armed forces of the United States or the National Guard, and such parent or legal guardian has been called to duty for or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, shall be granted excused absences, up to a maximum of five school days per school year, for the day or days missed from school to visit with his or her parent or legal guardian prior to such parent’s or legal guardian’s deployment or during such parent’s or legal guardian’s leave. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to require a local school system to revise any policies relating to maximum number of excused and unexcused absences for any purposes. (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-692.2)

8. Special circumstances justifying excused status at the discretion of the principal, when obtained in advance of the absence.

9. If a student is sent home by a Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) employed by the school system, the absence for the day he/she is sent home will be counted as an excused absence.

(c) WCBOE shall count students present when they are serving as pages of the Georgia General Assembly as set forth in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-692.

(d) A foster care student who attends court proceedings relating to the student's foster care shall be credited as present by the school and shall not be counted as an absence, either excused or unexcused, for any day, portion of the day, or days missed from school as set forth in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-692.2.

(e) Final course grades of students shall not be penalized because of absences if the following conditions are met.

1. Absences are justified and validated for excusable reasons.

2. Make up work for excused absences was completed satisfactorily.

(f) Local boards of education are not required to provide make-up work for unexcused absences.

(g) Nothing in this policy should be construed to encourage student absences or as an approval of excessive unexcused absences.

(h) The WCBOE shall adopt policies and procedures to reduce unexcused absences that shall include but is not limited to:

1. Requiring the school system to notify the parent, guardian or other person who has control or charge of the student when such student has five unexcused absences. The notice shall outline the penalty and consequences of such absences and that each subsequent absence shall constitute a separate offense. After two reasonable attempts to notify the parent, guardian or other person who has charge of the student, the school system shall send written notice via certified mail, return receipt; and

2. Requiring public schools to provide to the parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of each student enrolled in public school a written summary of possible consequences and penalties for failing to comply with compulsory attendance. By September 1 of each school year or within 30 school days of a student’s enrollment in the school system, the parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of such student shall sign a statement indicating receipt of such written statement of possible consequences and penalties. In addition, students age ten or older by September 1 shall sign a statement indicating receipt of written statement of possible consequences for non-compliance to the local system’s policy.

(i) WCBOE shall implement a progressive discipline process and a parental involvement process for truant students before referring the students to the juvenile or other court having jurisdiction. Before referring students to the juvenile or other courts having jurisdiction, certified mail, return receipt requested will be used to notify parents prior to any action to begin judicial proceedings for violations of the compulsory attendance law.

(j) WCBOE shall adopt as a part of the student codes of conduct developed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-735 a definition of truancy that contains the minimum standards established by State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.10 Student Attendance and a summary of possible consequences and penalties for truancy. The summary of possible consequences for students shall include possible dispositions for children in need of servicesin accordance with the juvenile code.

1. The superintendent or the superintendent’s designee of the local school system shall fully and actively assist in the planning, implementation and evaluation activities of the local school system student attendance protocol committee.

2. The superintendent, a certificated school employee, a local school board member from each public school system in the county, and a certificated school social worker from each public school system, if any are employed by the school system, shall serve on the student attendance protocol committee.

3. WCBOE shall consider and publicly announce its decisions regarding the recommendations of the student attendance protocol committee.