Student attendance critical to receive credit

Parents and students alike are reminded of the importance of school attendance not only to provide each child with the highest level of instruction possible, but also due to the Texas Compulsory Attendance Law.

The state law requires students to be in attendance for at least 90 percent of all planned days per school year to receive credit. The law previously was based on a minimum of 180 school days, but was changed two years ago to be calculated in minimum number of minutes of class time. Districts can now determine how many days are used to cover the required number of contact minutes.

“We pay attention to attendance because that is how our funding from the state is calculated,” high school principal Edward Morales said. “We have been running around the 96 percent attendance level, which sounds good, but the goal is really 98 percent.”

School officials stated that they obviously do not want parents to send students to school who may be ill, but asked that parents help stress the importance of attendance.

The attendance law has been in effect for several years and is listed in the student handbook. 

If a student is in attendance less than 90 percent of the required minimum time, the student will lose credit unless each and every class is made up in an approved manner such as Saturday School, summer school, or after school hours.

“We will start Saturday School in January for those students already out of compliance for the fall semester,” Morales said. “We possibly will have one evening each week for students to make up time if we have a teacher who wants to staff that time.”

The principal added that students will not be allowed to make up time during Lion Academy which is held on Monday through Thursdays to provide tutoring or extra help.

“The funding source for Lion Academy is very specific and can’t be used to recover time,” he said. “We will offer one night a week for about four hours if we can cover it with a staff member not part of Lion Academy.”

The principal said so far this school year only five or six high school students are facing loss of credits because of too many absences.

“We don’t have that many who are in dire need at this time,” the principal said. “This semester, especially with the seniors, we will schedule them for Saturday School as soon as they have missed too many days.”

He said that seniors will have to recover missed time that exceeds the 10 percent limit prior to graduation.

Students at Nancy Smith Elementary School who have excessive absences are also required to make up the time to receive credit.

“We typically focus on recovering time for excessive absences towards the end of the school year,” former grade school principal and newly hired superintendent Jonathan Scott said. “We have typically used after-school  and Saturday School to make up time, but summer school can also be used for both academic and attendance credit recovery.”

Excused Absences

A local policy instituted several years ago requires parents to call or provide a doctor’s note in order for a student to have an excused absence.

“They have up to six absences that can be excused with just a parent’s note,” Morales said. “After that, they need a doctor’s note.”

However, every absence is still counted against the attendance percentage even if it is “excused” by a doctor or by a parent.

If the student misses too many days of class, credits may be taken away even though the student may be passing the class.

Tardies

Morales also said that excessive tardies can result in problems for students. 

“They have to serve detention for the tardies,” the principal said. “If they are more than five minutes late, it also counts against exemptions for final exams. If they are more than 15 minutes late, they are counted as absent.” 

Parents may find attendance policy information at albany.esc14.net on the district’s home page. They can also choose to receive e-mail “alerts” if their child is late or absent for a class, go online and check the total number of absences and tardies for the first or second semester, or look for that information on the student’s report card. 

Attendance Committee

Class credits are taken away by the state, but a locally appointed attendance committee does have the authority to reinstate the credits should there be extenuating circumstances and if certain conditions are met by the student.

Each of the two campuses has an attendance committee.

The attendance committee will review the student’s entire attendance record and the reasons for absences and will determine whether to award credit.