School

Attendance Policy

Read below or click here to view pdf version.

Contents:
Basic Information | Excused Absences | Unexcused Absenses
Early Truancy Intervension Team | Effects of Truancy on Driver's License
Reporting Absences | Pre-authorized Absences | Tardiness
Release and Dismissal of Students | Perfect Attendance Award | Make-up Work

Basic Information

The importance of regular school attendance is emphasized in the Florida Compulsory School Attendance Law. School attendance is the responsibility of both the parents/guardian and the pupils. The following are quotations from the Florida school Statutes: “A Regular school attendance is required between the ages of six and sixteen, 232.01; B. Each parent of a child within the compulsory attendance age shall be responsible for such child’s school attendance, 232.09.”  Please be aware that it is the schools responsibility to report students to the Department of Juvenile Justice if they are in violation of this statute by accruing unexcused absences.

It is ultimately the responsibility of the student and parent to keep track of the number of days a student has been absent in each class.  A student or parent may obtain an attendance printout upon request in the attendance office.  Parents and students also have access to students’ attendance and grades on the school website under the parent viewer.   Due to the high volume of visitors to the attendance office, attendance printout requests may take up to 1 full school day to process.  Parents may contact the attendance office at (407) 518-5422 or (407) 518-5411.

Excused Absences

Anytime a student is not present in class for any reason other than a specific school related function, (i.e. field trips, athletic events, assemblies, etc.) shall be designated an absence.

Absences shall be excused ONLY for the following reasons with appropriate documentation:

  1. Personal illness
  2. Illness or death of an immediate family member
  3. Special circumstances with prior approval of both the administration and the parent/guardian such as court, religious observances, school function.

MEDICAL ABSENCES

Medical notes must be presented to the attendance office within 2 days of the absence.

 

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES

All other absences other than “excused” or “permitted” shall be deemed “unexcused” and a failing grade shall be recorded for the period of the “unexcused” absence.  Work may not be made up for credit due to unexcused absences.  Students who are suspended from school during semester exams shall be allowed to make up these exams.  

Examples of unexcused absences or tardies (where applicable):

  1. Any absence not reported within 48hrs.
  2. Any situation in which the student leaves school without proof for the absence (documentation must be submitted at time of student pick up).
  3. Babysitting
  4. Birthday / celebrations
  5. Trips
  6. OSS
  7. Oversleeping / missed bus
  8. Traffic

EFFECTS OF TRUANCY UPON DRIVER’S LICENSES / PERMITS

Florida Driver’s License Law states that a student with 15 or more unexcused absences within a 90-day period will have their driver’s license / permit revoked. To get reinstated, a student must attend school regularly in the time specified by Florida Driver’s License Law or may be required to wait until their 18th birthday. A form verifying this attendance must be obtained from the Attendance Department and taken to the driver’s license bureau. Truant students will be reported to the Department of Juvenile Justice for excessive unexcused absences.

REPORTING ABSENCES

  1. Parent must report the student’s absence by phone within 48 hours of the absence.  The parent must include students’ name, ID number, the date(s) of the absence and the reason for the absences. A phone call does not guarantee that the absence will be excused. Every attempt should be made to schedule doctor and dentist appointments after school. If this is not possible, a doctor/dentist note will be required upon return.  Students will receive full credit for make-up work only for excused absences.

  2. Students who are absent for 3 or more consecutive days due to illness / funeral must provide supporting documentation upon returning to school in form of a doctor’s note or mass card in order for absences to be excused.  Students who have accrued 5 or more excused / unexcused absences for the semester must provide supporting documentation to be excused for any future absences.  Students who don’t provide proof of absence within 72 hours of returning to school will be recorded as unexcused.

  3. Automated Phone Calls- Osceola High School will contact the parents of students who are reported absent during any period in the day using an automated system.  A correct number is necessary to ensure the proper use of this system.

PRE-ARRANGED ABSENCES

Permitted absences include religious observance, college visitation, court or funeral (immediate family member).

Any student requesting a pre-authorized absence from school must submit a “Permitted Absence” request (request forms are located in the attendance office) signed by a parent or guardian to the Attendance Office, explaining the reason for the proposed absence. All requests must include proof of absence. Submission of form does not guarantee approval; it is the student’s responsibility to follow up the status of the request with the attendance department. The letter must be submitted five (5) school days in advance of the proposed absence. WE WILL NOT CONSIDER ANY REQUEST THAT DOES NOT MEET THIS REQUIREMENT.

Pre-authorized absences are not encouraged and should be limited in duration. Family holidays should always be planned with the school calendar in mind. In most cases only 3 days will be excused. Specific procedures to be followed are outlined on the pre-excused absence form.

TARDINESS

Tardiness to School: After 8:15 am, any student arriving late must go to the Attendance Office to sign in before attending class. Five (5) tardies to school will be considered one (1) unexcused absence and will count towards the competency exam and driver’s license attendance requirements.  Any student registering three (3) or more tardies to school in a 9-week period will receive disciplinary action ranging from after school detention to ISS and suspension of school parking permit. Continued abuse of school’s tardy policies may result in permanent revocation of the student parking privileges. Missing more than half an hour of any block will be considered an absence from that class.

Students who are habitually tardy to school will be referred to the truant officer and the Department of Motor Vehicles for driver’s license/permit suspension.

Tardiness to Class: We believe that school is important; therefore, time spent in each class is of vital importance. As educators, we have the right to expect students to be on time to class and students have the responsibility for getting to class on time. A student will be considered tardy to class when he/she is not in the classroom when the tardy bell rings.

Offense Consequence
Teacher and / or administrative consequence.
*Consequences are cumulative for all classes.

**Disciplinary action is at the discretion of the Administrative Deans.

RELEASE AND DISMISSAL OF STUDENTS

Juniors and seniors who have a parking permit for OHS may sign out with parent approval, which must be verified by the Attendance Office.  All other students can ONLY leave school if an individual on the contact list physically signs the student out with a picture ID. Failure to follow procedure results in absence being deemed unexcused and disciplinary action will be taken. In all cases, an absence will only be excused if the student / parent submit supporting documentation at the time of release. Students WILL NOT be checked out the last 30 minutes of the day.

PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARDS

Osceola High School will recognize all students who have maintained perfect attendance in all their classes at the end of each quarter. In order to qualify for the perfect attendance award, students may not be absent for full or partial days and may not have any tardies to school/class. Students must remain in attendance until the end of each school day to be eligible for this recognition. Incentives will be awarded throughout the year to those students with perfect attendance.

JUNIOR/SENIOR OFF CAMPUS LUNCH PRIVILEGE

Juniors/Seniors only when the following criterion is met:

PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARDS

Osceola High School will recognize all students who have maintained perfect attendance in all their classes at the end of each quarter.  In order to qualify for the perfect attendance award, students may not be absent for full or partial days and may not have any tardies to school/class.  Students must remain in attendance until the end of each school day to be eligible for this recognition.  Incentives will be awarded throughout the year to those students with perfect attendance.

MAKE-UP WORK

Students will be given two days for every excused day absent to make up assignments and tests.
A student who is absent will be required to make-up work whether the absence is excused or unexcused. 
Students shall be responsible for contacting teachers and arranging for make-up work.
Long –term projects assigned with two weeks (10 school days) advance notice shall be turned in on the assigned due date even if the student is absent.   The teacher or an administrator may make exceptions to this rule for extreme or extenuating circumstances.
Students who do not complete make-up work within the specified time may be given a zero.
Students who are suspended out of school (unexcused absence) will be allowed to makeup work missed, although credit may not be given.  Students will be given one day to make up work for each day suspended out of school.

Students absent the day of a test announced prior to their absence may be given the test on the first day back. The teacher also reserves the right to give a different test to students who miss the original test.