Attendance Policy

A student in grades 9 through 12 may be considered a full-time equivalent student provided the student is enrolled in at least five (5) units of instruction, as defined by State law, per school year.

In accordance with statute, the Superintendent shall require, from the parent of each student of compulsory school age or from an adult student who has been absent from school or from class for any reason, a statement of the cause for such absence. The Board of Education reserves the right to verify such statements and to investigate the cause of each single absence or prolonged absence.
 
The Board considers the following factors to be reasonable excuses for time missed at school:
 
A.    personal illness (a written physician's statement verifying the illness may be required)
 
B.    appointment with a health care provider
 
C.    illness in the family necessitating the presence of the child
 
D.    quarantine of the home
 
E.    death in the family
 
F.    necessary work at home due to absence or incapacity of parent(s)/guardian(s) 
 
G.    observation or celebration of a bona fide religious holiday
 
H.    out-of-state travel (up to a maximum twenty-four (24) hours per school year that the student's school is open for instruction) to participate in a District-approved enrichment or extracurricular activity. Note: Any classroom assignment missed due to the absence shall be completed by the student. If the student will be absent for twenty-four (24) or more consecutive hours that the student's school is open for instruction, a classroom teacher shall accompany the student during the travel period to provide the student with instructional assistance.
 
I.    such good cause as may be acceptable to the Superintendent
 
J.    medically necessary leave for a pregnant student in accordance with Policy 5751 
 
K.    service as a precinct officer at a primary, special or general election in accordance with the program set forth in Policy 5725
 
L.    college visitation (the District requires verification of the date and time of the visitation by the college, university, or technical college)
 
M.    absences due to a student's placement in foster care or change in foster care placement or any court proceedings related to their foster care status
 
N.    absences due to a student being homeless.

 
Attendance need not always be within the school facilities, but a student will be considered to be in attendance if present at any place where school is in session by authority of the Board.
 
At the discretion of the Superintendent, a student may be excused for a longer period of time than ten (10) days if a child's parent or guardian has recently died or become totally or partially incapacitated and there is no older brother or sister living in the home who is out of school. (The Superintendent may request a certificate of a physician attesting to the physical condition of the parent or guardian.) 
 

When a parent, guardian, or other person having care of a student has failed to initiate a telephone call or other communication notifying the school or building administration of the student's excused or unexcused absence within 120 minutes after the beginning of the school day, the attendance officer or designee for each school building shall make at least one (1) attempt to contact the parent, guardian, or other person having care of any student who is recorded as absent without legitimate excuse within 120 minutes after the beginning of each school day by a method designated by the Superintendent in accordance with Ohio law (see AG 5200).

When a student of compulsory school age is absent from school with combined nonmedical excused absences and unexcused absences in excess of thirty-eight (38) or more hours in one (1) school month, or sixty-five (65) or more hours in a school year, that student is considered "excessively absent" from school. Lakota will notify the child's parent or guardian of the child's absences, in writing, within seven (7) school days after the date of the absence that triggered the notice requirement. At the same time written notice is given, any appropriate intervention action listed herein may be taken.
 
The following “medical excuses” will not count toward a student’s excessive absence hours: (1) personal illness; (2) illness in the family necessitating the presence of the child; (3) quarantine of the home; (4) health care provider appointments (doctor, dentist, mental health provider, etc.); (5) medically-necessary leave for a pregnant student in accordance with Policy 5751; (6) death in the family; or (7) other set of circumstances the Superintendent deems on a case-by-case basis to be a good and sufficient cause for medical absence from school.
 
A medically excused absence occurs any time a student is out of school due to illness or medical visit (physician, dentist, mental health, etc.). A medical excuse for personal illness will be accepted in the form of doctor’s note within five (5) school days of the absence or parent call-in on the day of the absence due to illness or doctor’s visit. 

A student may have up to ten (10) medically excused absences without a doctor’s note, but with a phone call from a parent/guardian. Medical excused absences will be accepted through this process for students participating both in-person and remotely. This policy will be extended beyond ten (10) days if the student or someone in the student’s family is in quarantine due to recognized pandemic/epidemic (e.g., COVID-19) or experiencing symptoms of the pandemic/epidemic.

A student will be considered habitually truant if the student is of compulsory school age and absent without a legitimate excuse for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours, for forty-two (42) or more hours in one (1) school month, or for seventy-two (72) or more hours in one (1) school year.
 
Legitimate excuses for the absence of a student who is otherwise habitually truant include but are not limited to:
 
A.    the student was enrolled in another school district;
 
B.    the student was excused from attendance in accordance with R.C 3321.04; or
 
C.    the student has received an age and schooling certificate. 

 
Absence Intervention Team
 
To the extent required by law as determined on an annual basis, within ten (10) days of a student becoming habitually truant, the Principal shall assign the student to an absence intervention team.
 
Within fourteen (14) school days after the assignment of a student to an absence intervention team, the team shall develop an intervention plan for that student in an effort to reduce or eliminate further absences. Each intervention plan shall vary based on the individual needs of the student, but the plan shall state that the attendance officer shall file a complaint not later than sixty-one (61) days after the date the plan was implemented, if the child has refused to participate in, or failed to make satisfactory progress on, the intervention plan. Within seven (7) school days after the development of the plan, reasonable efforts shall be made to provide the student's parent/guardian/custodian, with written notice of the plan.
 
Each absence intervention team may vary based on the needs of each individual student but shall include a representative from the child's building, another representative from the child's building who knows the child, and the child's parent or parent's designee, or the child's guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian. The team also may include a school psychologist, counselor, social worker, or representative of a public or nonprofit agency designed to assist students and their families in reducing absences. 
 
The members of the absence intervention team shall be selected within seven (7) school days of the student meeting the habitually truant threshold. Within the same period of seven (7) school days, the Principal shall make at least three meaningful, good faith attempts to secure the participation of the student's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian on that team. A good faith attempt to secure the participation of the parent shall include, but not be limited to, contacting (or attempting to contact) the parent by telephone, email, or regular mail. If the student's parent responds to any of those attempts, but is unable to participate for any reason, the Principal shall inform the parent of the parent's right to appear by designee. If seven (7) school days elapse and the student's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian fails to respond to the attempts to secure participation, the attendance officer shall investigate whether the failure to respond triggers mandatory abuse or neglect reporting to the public children services agency. At the same time, the absence intervention team shall continue to develop an intervention plan for the child notwithstanding the absence of the child's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian.

 
Intervention Strategies
 
In order to address the attendance practices of a student who is habitually truant, the intervention team may, as part of an intervention plan, take any of the following intervention actions:
 
A.    provide counseling to the student
 
B.    request or require the student's parent to attend a parental involvement program
 
C.    request or require a parent to attend a truancy prevention mediation program
 
D.    notify the Registrar of Motor Vehicles of the student's absences
 
E.    take appropriate legal action
 
F.    assignment to an alternative school (Note: If the District has established an alternative school, it must appear as an alternative intervention strategy.) 
 
In the event that a student becomes habitually truant within twenty-one (21) school days prior to the last day of instruction of a school year, the Principal may, in his/her discretion, assign one school official to work with the child's parent/guardian/custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian to develop an absence intervention plan during the summer.
 
The absence intervention process shall commence upon the first day of instruction of the next school year.

 
Reporting Requirements
 
The attendance officer shall file a complaint in the juvenile court against a student on the sixty-first (61st) day after the implementation of an absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies, provided that all of the following apply:
 
A.    The student is habitually truant.
 
B.    The school district or school has made meaningful attempts to re-engage the student through the absence intervention plan, other intervention strategies, and any offered alternatives to adjudication, if applicable.
 
If the student, at any time during the implementation phase of the absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies, is absent without legitimate excuse for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours or forty-two (42) or more hours in one school month, the attendance officer shall file a complaint in juvenile court against that student, unless the absence intervention team has determined that the student has made substantial progress on the absence intervention plan.
 
In the event that the sixty-first (61st) day after the implementation of the absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies falls on a day during the summer months, the absence intervention team may extend the implementation of the plan and delay the filing of the complaint for an additional thirty (30) days from the first day of instruction of the next school year.
 
The Superintendent is authorized to establish an educational program for parents of truant students which is designed to encourage parents to ensure that their children attend school regularly. Any parent who does not complete the program is to be reported to law enforcement authorities for parental education neglect, a fourth class misdemeanor if found guilty.
 
Whenever any student of compulsory school age has sixty (60) consecutive hours in a single month or a total of ninety (90) hours of unexcused absence from school during the school year, s/he will be considered habitually absent under R.C. 3321.13(b)(2). The Board authorizes the Superintendent to inform the student and his/her parents, guardian, or custodian of the record of absences without a legitimate excuse as well as the District's intent to notify the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, if appropriate, and the Judge of the Juvenile Court of the student's unexcused absences and habitually absent status. 
 
If a student who is habitually truant violates the order of a juvenile court regarding the student’s prior adjudication as an unruly child for being a habitual truant, s/he may further be adjudicated as a delinquent child.
 
The District shall report to the Ohio Department of Education, as soon as practicable, and in a format and manner determined by the Department, any of the following occurrences:
 
A.    when a notice that a student has been absent with or without legitimate excuse for thirty-eight (38) or more hours in one (1) school month, or sixty-five (65) or more hours in a school year is submitted to a parent/guardian/or custodian;
 
B.    when a child of compulsory school age has been absent without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty (30) or more consecutive hours, forty-two (42) or more hours in one school month, or seventy-two (72) or more hours in a school year;
 
C.    when a child of compulsory school age who has been adjudicated an unruly child for being a habitual truant violates the court order regarding that adjudication;
 
D.    when an absence intervention plan has been implemented for a child under this policy.

 
This policy was developed after consultation with the judge of the juvenile court of Butler County, with the parents, guardians, or other persons having care of the students attending school in the district, and with appropriate State and local agencies.
 

Consistent with Lakota’s remote learning plan (e.g., Blended Learning, On-Line Learning, etc.), the District will provide a variety of instruction models, including both teacher-led remote learning and self-directed remote learning.
 
Student attendance in teacher-led remote learning (synchronous web-based instruction) shall be tracked in the same manner as hourly, in-person instruction. Teachers shall determine hourly attendance by evidence of student login and logoff data. Teachers are encouraged to verify meaningful attendance in a method selected by the teacher, such as an ungraded quiz at the close of a lesson, a survey or poll questions (unrelated to the lesson and unpredictable) at the end of the lesson, or asking students questions at random throughout a session.
 
In addition to the reasons listed at the beginning of this policy, absences from teacher-led remote learning (synchronous web-based instruction) may be considered excused under the following circumstances, with notice from a parent/guardian:
 
A.    temporary internet outage for individual students or households;
 
B.    unexpected technical difficulties for individual students or households, such as password resets or software upgrades occurring during a teacher-led remote learning lesson;
 
C.    computer/device malfunction;
 
D.    malfunction of a District-owned device for which the District is providing technical assistance, repair, or replacement. 

 
Attendance in self-directed remote learning (asynchronous) shall be tracked by evidence of participation, which may include, but is not limited to:
 
A.    daily logins to learning management systems;
 
B.    daily interactions with the teacher to acknowledge attendance, which may include, but are not limited to, messages, emails, telephone calls, video chats or other formats that enable teachers to engage with students; and
 
C.    assignment completion.
 

The teacher will determine the number of hours a typical student would take to complete an assignment and report those hours of attendance when the assignment is completed. A teacher may adjust the number of hours of attendance based on the length of time the student actually spent on the assignment, as reported by the student, parent, or other person with knowledge.