Attendance Policy

For your child to be successful, he/she must attend school every day.  Parents of students with excessive absences may be required to meet with the principal to develop a solution.  Chronic attendance problems, which are unresolved, will result in notification of the Children’s Division, Juvenile Office and/or the Prosecuting Attorney.   Every effort should be made to schedule doctor appointments for non-school hours.  Family vacations should be taken in the summer, during Christmas, or Spring breaks.  Limit the times that you must take your child out of school before dismissal of school because it interrupts the classroom and takes away from instructional time. 

Arriving at school on time is another major component of good attendance.  Students not in the building before the tardy bell will be considered late. Please check with your child’s school if you have questions on when your child must be at school.

The state of Missouri has a Compulsory Attendance Law that our district follows. That Law is as follows:

Statute 167.031, RSMo, states that any parent, guardian or other person having custody or control of a child between the ages of seven (7) and the compulsory attendance age for the district, must ensure that the child is enrolled in and regularly attends public, private, parochial school, home school or a combination of schools for the full term of the school year. The term "compulsory attendance age for the district" shall mean seventeen (17) years of age or having successfully completed sixteen (16) credits towards high school graduation in all other cases. Children between the ages of five (5) and seven (7) are not required to be enrolled in school.  However, if they are enrolled in a public school their parent, guardian or custodian must ensure that they regularly attend.

In an effort to keep the lines of communication between parents and the school, building administrators will take the following actions when certain attendance milestones have been reached.  The following actions will be taken after a certain number of absences:

• Four Days of School Missed – a letter from the school may be sent notifying parents that four days have been missed.
• Seven Days of School Missed – a letter from the school expressing concern about the number of days of school missed and possible future steps the school must take if high absenteeism continues.
• Ten Days of School Missed – a letter from the school notifying parents that the student has missed ten days and that a referral to the Juvenile Office may be made. 
• Ten days in which a student has arrived late for school – a letter from the school will be sent expressing concern of excessive days tardy for school.
• Fifteen days in which a student has arrived late for school – a letter from the school notifying parents that the student has excessive days tardy for school and that a referral to the Juvenile Office may be made.

At any time, a student can be referred by a building principal to the district-employed Attendance Enforcement Specialist, due to unexcused absences or excessive tardies.  Once referred for tardies or absences, the referrals will result in communication via mailed letters, phone calls, and/or home visits to discuss the ongoing attendance issues. Once the attendance specialist is involved, your students’ attendance will be checked daily to assure compliance with our attendance policy and to provide help when needed.  If the student’s attendance does not improve, the attendance specialist may do any or all of the following: place the student on an attendance contract, make a hotline for educational neglect, refer to the Juvenile Office for truancy, or connect the student to needed resources.