Attendance

Attendance

According to the NC Compulsory Attendance Law, all children between the ages of 7 and 16 are required toattend school. Caswell County Schools’ Promotion/Retention policy states that students who are absentexcessively are subject to retention. Students must be in attendance for half of the school day to be countedpresent (if they leave before 11:30 am, they will be counted absent). Students will not be counted absent forlate buses or participation in a school-approved activity. If a child must be absent from school, parents shouldknow and follow these procedures:

● Provide a written note to the student to give to his/her homeroom teacher upon return. If the teacherdoes not receive a written note, the absence will be recorded as unexcused.

● The note must state the date(s) and reason(s) for absence(s). The principal may require a statementfrom the student’s physician about an illness.

● Students must make up all work missed within three days after he/she returns to school. Teachers are
responsible for getting missed work to the office if requested by parent/guardian.

● Excused absences (if a written note is provided by the parent) include: illness or injury, death in
immediate family, medical/dental appointments, religious holidays, court or administrative proceedings,
quarantine, educational opportunities (if pre-approved by the principal).

● Unexcused absences (include but are not limited to): vacations, family trips, business trips, missing
the school bus, not knowing school is in session.
Parents will be notified when a student has been absent for five days from school. Parents will be notified by
mail when their child has three or more consecutive unexcused absences within a year. A second notice will
be sent when with a student accumulates ten or more unexcused absences. At this point legal action may be
taken against the parents under the NC Compulsory Attendance Law.

Tardy Policies

Legally, students must attend school for the entire school day unless there is a legitimate reason for tardiness;tardies will be recorded after 7:45 am. Parents must report to the office with his/her child or send a note statingthe reason for the tardy. The front office staff will send a tardy slip to class with the student indicating whetheror not the tardy was excused (if a student presents a physician’s note or court document). Consequences fortardies include the following (within a grading period):

● First/Second Offense: warning
● Third Offense: warning and documentation in Educator Handbook; parent contact
● Fourth Offense: ISS for 1 class period; parent contact
● Fifth Offense: ISS for 1 day; parent contact
● Accumulated over five tardies to school can result in 1-3 day(s) of OSS for each one.
Consequences are as follows for students receiving 3 tardies to their individual classes (within a grading
period):
● Three Tardies: ISS for that class period; parent contact
● Fourth Tardy: ISS for 2 class periods; parent contact
● Fifth Tardy: ISS for up to 1 day; parent contact
● Accumulating over five tardies can result in up to 1 days of OSS for each one.

Emergency Closings and Delays

Announcements concerning delayed school openings or school closings should be made between 6:00 amand 6:30 am. If school begins one or two hours late, the daily schedule will be altered. Students should reportto bus stops one to two hours later than normal times. Breakfast will not be served on those mornings.Announcements concerning early school closings will be made as soon as possible should the situation arise.Students should know how to get home if school dismisses early. If a student will not follow his/her regulardismissal plan for early closings, parents should send this information to the school in writing. Students maynot stay on campus after the buses leave. School officials ask that parents follow the below suggestions:

● View TV broadcasts on stations such as WFMY Channel 2, WRAL Channel 5, WGHP Channel 8, WXII
Channel 12 or Channel 45
● Listen to radio stations such as WBBB 920AM, WBAG 1150 AM, WBTM 1330 AM, WXRO 1430 AM,
WYNC 1540 AM, WFDD 88.5 FM, WKIX 96.1 FM, WJMH 102 FM, WPXX 106.7 FM
● Keep phones close as Alert Now phone calls will be made regarding school closing information.