Attendance

Often parents ask if they should provide a Doctor/Dentist note when their student is absent for an appointment. WA state requires a Parent meeting for 5 excused absences in any month or 10 excused absences within the school year. Please provide a Medical note if your child has been absent for an appointment to the Doctor, Dentist, Occupational Therapist and/or Counselors appointment.

Here are a few ways to excuse absences:

• *Pick-up Patrol, Plan change, utilize the Absent button and please provide a reason.
• *Attendance line, 360-221-0637.
• *Dr.’s notes referencing appointments.   
• *Handwritten notes.

CALL THE FRONT OFFICE 5 MINUTES BEFORE ARRIVING FOR EARLY PICKUP.  MAKE SURE THE TEACHER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED WHEN/IF POSSIBLE.

South Whidbey School District Attendance Codes:

• T - Tardy 
• U - Unexcused Absence
• UTR - Unexcused Absence - Truant
• TSR - Tardy School Related
• PPP - Parent Permission Unexcused Absence
• EMC  - Excused Absence - Medical Clinic Verification
• EAP - Excused Absence - Appointment
• EMP - Excused Absence  - Medical Dr. Verification
• E01 - Excused Absence - Covid
• EMH  - Excused Absence- Mental Health
• EPP - Excused Absence - Parent Permission
• OSR - Excused Absence - School Related
• W - Web Absent
• L - Web Tardy

 

- NOTIFICATION EXAMPLES

The same message is sent via email, text and voice for absent/tardy notifications.

TEXT NOTIFICATIONS

EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS

English

Spanish

 

- ATTENDANCE NOTES

Send Note to School option is available when viewing their child’s attendance notification. They may click on that option to excuse their child’s absence or tardy in ParentSquare.  

Notes are sent to all attendance clerks as an email.

Attendance Reviewed on Skyward Family Access

Absences can also be reviewed on Skyward Family Access.  However, absence notes cannot be submitted via Skyward Family Access. Please call/email the attendance secretary.

South Whidbey ALE 1-8

CLASS ATTENDANCE/WEEKLY CONTACT/TRUANCY

Washington State has new rules regarding attendance and truancy. South Whidbey ALE 1-8 is an Alternative Learning Experience Program (ALE) and must comply with State guidance.

Class Attendance:

Class attendance refers to attendance in any certificated class or CBI workshop a student is enrolled in. Class attendance is expected at SW ALE. Class attendance is taken daily.

• If a student is absent for a day, email or call the office attendance line at 360-221-6808 ext. 4632.

• Parents and students should follow up with teachers regarding any missed classwork or assignments.

• If a student is/will be absent for 4 consecutive days (a full week at SW ALE), please notify the office and each teacher. In addition, contact your advisor to maintain weekly contact requirements.

Weekly Contact:

One of the requirements of being an ALE is that students must have weekly contact with a certificated teacher as outlined in the state rules- WAC 392-550-040.

• A student meets the weekly contact requirement by being enrolled in and attending a certificated teacher class.

• Weekly Contact may be excused by notifying the office and advisor of valid justification.  Failure to notify during the week of the missed weekly contact will result in an unexcused absence. Please don’t hesitate to contact your advisor immediately to re-establish contact if missed and to discuss any changes in your student’s schedule or WSLP as needed.  

• Students who do not meet the weekly contact requirements for 2 or more consecutive weeks without valid justification will need to take part in an Intervention Plan.

• Students who do not meet the weekly contact requirement for 5 consecutive weeks or 6 cumulative weeks of missed weekly contact without valid justification are considered “truant” (see ‘Truancy’ below).

Valid reasons for missing weekly contact include:

• Illness, health condition or hospitalization lasting more than one week.  Including but not limited to, medical, mental health, chemical dependency, for the student or person for whom the student is legally responsible.

• Family emergencies including, but not limited to, a death or illness in the family.

• Other instances as listed on the district website.

 

Truancy:

The Compulsory Attendance Law is often referred to as the “Becca Bill”. The purpose of the law is to help stop truancy before it becomes a problem. Schools and families should work together as a team to ensure school attendance and student safety. However, if a student continues to miss Weekly Contact , this law requires that schools and school districts take the following actions for students enrolled in an ALE program:

1. One (1) missed weekly contact without valid justification: The school must inform the parent/legal guardian when there is one missed weekly contact. This is often done by an email or phone call home.

2. Two (2) consecutive or third (3rd) cumulative missed weekly contact without valid justification: Schedule conference with parent and student, complete WARNS needs assessment and Intervention plan.

3. Five (5)  consecutive or sixth (6th)  cumulative missed weekly contact without valid justification: File truancy petition.

Schools must send the student a notice of the truancy court petition by certified mail with return receipt or in-person delivery. The petition includes many important dates and deadlines that must not be missed by the student and the family.

How to send an attendance note via ParentSquare

Attendance notes are sent after the Parent Square attendance notifications are received by parents/guardians.  This is not the method for parents/guardians to send a proactive note.  Prior to the absence, please send either a message via ParentSquare to your attendance secretary - Chantell Petty for grades 6-12. 

OSPI Attendance/Truancy Requirements for WA State (linked here)

The SWSD faculty considers regular attendance to be a necessary and vital part of learning and course mastery. Over the past five years, we have seen dramatic improvements in student attendance. We continue to support District Policy No.3121 (See Board Docs for current policy) requiring students to attend school regularly. Primary responsibility for regular attendance rests with the student and his/her parent or legal guardian.

Tardiness: Defined as arriving up to five (5) minutes late to class, except for first period, which is 15 minutes. Students who arrive more than 15 minutes late for first period or five (5) minutes late for all other classes will be considered absent, unexcused, and in need of an admit slip from the attendance office. If this absence is not verified, the student will be considered truant and will be subject to discipline.

When a student is absent from class, the parent/guardian is responsible to inform the school in two ways:

1. On the morning of absence, call the attendance line. Please give student name, parent/guardian name, phone number, dates, and reason for an absence.
2. On the day student returns to class, send a note with your student. Please give student name, parent/guardian name, phone number, dates, reason for absence, with your signature.
   Any absences, which are not verified on or before the day that the student returns to class, will be marked as truant. If the absence is cleared within 10 days by the parent/guardian writing a note (per point 2 above), the truancy will be dropped. Truant students will be assigned the appropriate discipline.

   ABSENCES FALL INTO THREE CATEGORIES

   1. EXCUSED absences are those, recognized by the school, as valid reasons for missing class (as per District Policy No. 3122):
      • Illness, health conditions
      • Medical/dental appointments
        We highly recommend that students obtain a note from their medical/dental provider, whenever they have an appointment.
      • School approved activities, such as sporting and music events, academic competitions, and field trips.
      • Family emergencies, such as death in the family or hospitalization
      • Religious observances
      • Court dates or appointments as required by law
        (This does not include visitations that should be done outside of school time.)

      See section below for details of pre-arranged absences.

      • Those pre-arranged absences which fall into the categories listed immediately above
      • Disciplinary actions, assigned by the school

      MAKE-UP WORK: Teachers are required to provide make-up work.

   2. UNEXCUSED absences are those authorized by the parent/guardian but not recognized by the school district as a valid reason for missing class (per District Policy No. 3122). Family vacations or trips can fall into this category.
      MAKE-UP WORK: Teachers are not required to provide. Make-up work is at teacher's discretion.
   
   
   3. TRUANCY is an absence without valid justification from a parent/guardian or from school staff.
      MAKE-UP WORK: Teachers will not provide.

   Like all schools in Washington State, SWSD is bound by a State Law (RCW 28A.225.030) requiring school districts to inform juvenile justice authorities when a student accrues five (5) unexcused truant full day absences in a month or 10 full day absences in a school year. (A full day's absence is defined as missing one-half or more of the student's scheduled school day.) Students in this situation may be required to appear in court and may be ordered to serve court-appointed detention time for repeated attendance violations.

   For any student that has repetitive attendance issues and/or 10 or more absences in any single term, SWSD may require the student to sign an individualized attendance contract for the purpose of attending school regularly. Attendance contracts are very specific in nature and will name the consequence for failing to meet the terms of the contract.

   All parents/guardians and students receive an update of the student's attendance record at time of grading. Upon receipt, parents/guardians and students must review the attendance record for accuracy. Please contact the attendance office immediately with any questions or concerns.

   MISCELLANEOUS ATTENDANCE INFORMATION

   PRE-ARRANGED absences are personal absences of more than one (1) school day of which teachers have been made aware, such as appointments, family events, trips, etc. College visits (again, causing a student to miss more than one school day) must be pre-arranged and require proper follow-up documentation from the college(s) visited. Students get a pre-arranged absence form in the attendance office at least three (3) school days in advance. The form requires signatures from student, parent/guardian, teachers, and administrator. Forms are available in the attendance office. Completed forms must be turned in to the attendance office. Pre-arranged absences may be either excused or unexcused in nature. MAKE-UP WORK: If excused absence, teachers will provide make-up work. If unexcused absence, make-up work is provided at teacher's discretion.

   NOTE: School-sponsored events, including field trips, athletic contests, music events, or other absences created by approved school-sponsored functions, are automatically pre-arranged by the teacher in charge. Students do NOT need a pre-arranged absence form for these. Make-up work is a guaranteed privilege for school-sponsored absences.

   HOW TO OBTAIN MAKE-UP WORK: Students are responsible to collect their own make-up work by contacting their individual instructors directly via e-mail or by leaving a message on the teacher's telephone extension. Please visit the high school website at www.sw.wednet.edu/swhs to obtain the e-mail addresses and/or telephone extensions. 

 

Grades 6-12 take attendance at each class, notifications are sent twice a day.

Grades TK-5 take attendance once per day, notifications are by phone once a day.