Stay In School, Kids

Attendance policy laid out for new year

Senior+Devin+Summers+signs+into+school+after+showing+up+late.+The+attendance+policy+states+that+students+must+be+present+for+a+class+90%25+of+the+time.

Cooper Cannon

Senior Devin Summers signs into school after showing up late. The attendance policy states that students must be present for a class 90% of the time.

With COVID protocols in the past, the new school year brings new attendance policies. For the last two years, attendance has not counted towards exempting spring finals, however, the 2022-2023 school year is changing that.

Along with grade requirements, a student cannot miss more than five days of the same class for the entire year to exempt finals in a year-long course. In a semester course, a student cannot miss more than three days to avoid the final. But students can be absent for several reasons and the absence will not count against exemptions.

“There is a list of absences that do not count against exemptions,” Head Attendance Aid Jennifer Carpe said. “They are: a half day absence with a doctor’s note, school activity, court note, religious holy day, college visit, drivers permit or license, on campus excuse and a few others.”

While exemption rules are important, they differ from regular attendance for passing a class. To gain credit for a class, according to state law, a student must be present 90% of the time. This means that a student cannot miss more than nine days to earn credit for the course, making attendance vital to graduating.

“When you exceed that amount of absences, it goes on your transcript as if you failed the class,” Assistant Principal Jennifer Ferrigno said. “That’s why attendance is super critical.”

If a student does happen to miss too many days, they are required to make up hours and if that does not occur for a senior before graduation, there’s a chance that they will be prohibited from walking across the stage with their class.

“We can’t pull how many hours you owe until the last day of school. You have to be able to do it in a short amount of time because all of the hours made up have to occur outside of the regular school day,” Ferringo said. “Sometimes there’s not enough time to make them up if you are continuing to accrue them until the very end.”

Whether coming to school to avoid taking finals or whether coming to school to avoid not graduating, keeping up with attendance requirements is a vital part of being a student.