Rochelle Spector
Support Staff
Telephone: 631-716-8288

Ron Guarascio (A-M)
Telephone: 631-716-8493
Email: rguarascio@sachem.edu

Linda deBeer (N-Z and ALC Students)
Telephone: 631-716-8492
Email: ldebeer@sachem.edu

Excused and Unexcused Absences

Excused ATEDs are defined as Absences, Tardiness and Early Departures from class or school when they are due to personal illness, death in the family, impassable roads or weather, religious observance/obligations, quarantine, required court appearances, medical appointments, approved college visits, approved cooperative work programs, military obligations, family emergencies, or such other reasons as may be approved by the superintendent or his designee.

· Absences, tardiness, and early dismissals are unexcused ATEDs when they do not meet the above criteria.

· All absences must be accounted for. It is the parents'/guardians' responsibility to notify the appropriate school office on the day of occurrence of the absence and to provide a written excuse upon the student's return to school.

Tardiness and Lateness to School

Students who are tardy to school shall have this information recorded and reported to their parents/guardians.

Students who develop a pattern of tardiness shall have their parents/guardians contacted, shall be reminded of the attendance policy, and will be told that the students are subject to the school disciplinary policy.

· Students who are late to school by a significant amount of time shall have their parents/guardians contacted.

General Procedures/Data Collection

Attendance will be taken during each class period at the secondary level.

· At the conclusion of each class period or school day, all attendance information shall be compiled and provided to the designated staff member(s) responsible for attendance.

· The nature of an ATED shall be coded on a student's record.

· Student ATED data and reports shall be available to and should be reviewed by the designated school personnel in an expeditious manner.

Where additional information is received that requires corrections to be made to a student's attendance records, such correction will be made immediately. Notice of such a change will be sent to appropriate school personnel subject to applicable confidentiality rules.

· Data will be monitored and analyzed periodically to identify trends in student attendance.

Disciplinary Consequences

Unexcused ATEDs will result in disciplinary action consistent with the district’s code of conduct. Those penalties may include, for example, detention or in-school suspension. Students may also be denied the privilege of participating in or attending extracurricular events.

· In addition, designated staff member(s) will attempt to contact the student’s parents/guardians and the student’s guidance counselor. Such staff member(s) shall remind parents/guardians of the attendance policy, explain the ramifications of unexcused ATEDs, and stress the importance of class attendance and discuss appropriate intervention strategies to correct the situation.

Attendance/Grade Policy and Denial of Credit

The Board of Education recognizes an important relationship between class attendance and student performance. Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes.

· Consistent with the importance of classroom participation, unexcused ATEDs may adversely affect a student's class participation grade for the marking period.

· For high school level courses, more than nine (9) absences (five (5) for alternative day courses) in a semester will result in the denial of credit. However, students with properly excused absences may make up the work in a timely manner and those absences will not count toward the minimum attendance standard.

· An unexcused tardy to class of 15 minutes or more shall be considered for the purpose of this policy an unexcused absence.

To ensure that parents/guardians and students are aware of the implications of this minimum attendance requirement, the teacher or other designated staff member(s) will advise the student and attempt to contact the parents/guardians by telephone and mail at appropriate intervals prior to the student reaching the maximum absences.

· In implementing the policy set forth above, students who are unable to attend school or class on a given day due to their participation in a school sponsored activity (i.e., music lessons, field trips), may arrange with their teachers to make up any work missed. This also applies to any student who is absent, tardy or leaves early from school or a class due to illness or any other excused reason.

· Upon their return to school, students with excused absences are expected to consult with their teachers regarding missed work.

· Only those students with excused absences will be given the opportunity to make up a test or other missed work to eliminate the absence from the calculations utilized in the denial of credit. Make up opportunities must be completed by a date specified by the student's teacher for the class in question.