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Tardies and Attendance

START TIMES AND TARDIES

The doors of the main office buildings are not open to students until 7:30 a.m. Faculty and staff are not on duty to supervise students before 7:30 a.m. or after 3:50 p.m. Doors are unlocked at 7:30.An employee will be at the drop-off site to help get your child out of the car and into the building (for younger students).  All students will go directly to classrooms when arriving at school. All school doors are locked at 8:00 a.m. for security purposes.

 

All students must be picked up by 4:00 p.m.

School pick-up begins at 3:30 p.m. for everyone. Parents should not pick up their students during the last 30 minutes of school unless there is an emergency. Learning is still taking place and homework assignments are often being discussed and written down. In addition, office staff may not be able to fulfill late afternoon release requests in a timely manner.  If a parent is late, the student will be taken to the office where the parents can sign out, and pick up.

 

  • Students should be in their classes by 8:00 am.
  • Students arriving in class after 8:00 am are considered tardy.
  • Students are expected to be with their designated areas before pledges are recited and announcements are made.
  • All tardies are unexcused, except for instances when a student has a written doctor’s note.
  • Tardy students need to go directly to the school office to sign in and receive a tardy slip before going to class.
  • If the weather is inclement (e.g. raining) when you wake up, please plan to leave 5 or 10 minutes early to avoid being late.
  • Five unexcused late arrivals (tardies) will result in one unexcused absence.
  • Excessive tardies, which hinder learning and disrupt the classroom, will result in a parent conference and/or an after school detention will be served.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Regular school attendance is essential for a student to make the most of his or her education—to benefit from lessons, to build each day’s learning on that of the previous day, and to grow as an individual.  In short, there is no substitute for time on task. Absences from class may result in a serious disruption of a student’s mastery of the instructional content; therefore, the student and parent should make every effort to avoid unnecessary absences. Absences due to family vacations are not excused for official attendance purposes (see the Responsive Ed handbook). 

The state compulsory attendance law requires that a student between the ages of 6 and 18 must attend school and school-required tutorial sessions unless the student is otherwise legally exempted or excused.  School staff must investigate and report violations of the state compulsory attendance law.  A student absent from school without permission from any class, from required special programs, or from required tutorials will be considered “truant” and subject to disciplinary action. Truancy may also result in assessment of penalties by a court of law against both the student and his or her parents. State law permits the school to file a complaint against the parent in the appropriate court if the student is absent, without excuse, on three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period. State law requires the school to file a complaint against the parent in the appropriate court if the student is absent, without excuse, on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year. Please refer to Texas Education Code 25 for more details.    

To receive credit in a class, a student must attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. These days include both excused and unexcused absences. A student who attends fewer than 90 percent of the days the class is offered may be referred to the Administration to determine whether there are extenuating circumstances for the absences and how the student can regain credit. In determining whether there were extenuating circumstances for the absences, the Administration will use the guidelines found in the ResponsiveEd Parent/Student Handbook.