Updates to Attendance Policy and Procedures
2024-2025
In an effort to provide additional flexibility to families while also meeting new legislative guidelines intended to improve school attendance rates, several changes have been made to our attendance policy and procedures.
Should your child need to be absent from school during the upcoming school year, the absence will be categorized as Excused, Unexcused, or Exempt. A few key points are included below, and the specific school board policy is included at the bottom of this message along with a link to our student handbooks.
Excused Absences
- NEW THIS SCHOOL YEAR: For the purposes of illness, vacation, or personal matters, parents/legal guardians may excuse their children from school without documentation for up to five (5) days in a school year.
- Medical and legal appointments are considered excused when documentation is provided to the school’s front office. When students miss school due to medical or legal appointments, then documentation must be provided to the front office within three (3) days of the absence as our attendance is reported to the Department of Education on a weekly basis.
- The following reasons also qualify as excused absences: Death in the immediate family or of a relative; observation of a bona fide religious holiday; and deployment or return of a family member in the military.
Unexcused Absences
- All absences not defined under Excused or Exempt will be considered Unexcused.
- Indiana law defines Habitually Truant as a student with ten (10) or more unexcused absences within a school year. Habitually Truant students will be referred to Allen County Juvenile Probation, the Department of Child Services, and/or the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (ages 16-18). Habitually Truant students will also lose the privilege of participating in extra-curricular or co curricular activities unless specific guidelines are met.
- For students in kindergarten through grade six, Indiana law now requires an in-person attendance meeting between the school and families in cases where a student has five (5) unexcused absences within a 10-week period.
Exempt
- Indiana recognizes six (6) specific reasons for days missed to count as Exempt. These reasons are described in our handbook and days missed for these reasons count as Present.
While we recognize that there are times when students must be absent from school, we also want to emphasize the importance of school attendance and the role it plays in continuous growth. A link to our student handbooks and the board approved policy are included below.
NACS Student Handbooks 2024-2025
C175 Student Attendance, Academic Engagement, and Truancy Prevention Policy
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