Attendance Policy

Our attendance policies are designed to promote academic achievement and student responsibility, in addition to providing for the safety and protection of each individual.  Regular attendance, regardless of your age or academic placement, is the surest avenue toward well-rounded development in three crucial areas: academic growth, social growth, and emotional growth. School attendance is the responsibility of the student and his/her parents or guardian and the school. The school expects that a student will be in school every day and that planning ahead and keeping school attendance as a high priority can minimize most absences.

---

Absent and Late Students - Safety Procedure

If your child is going to be absent or late, please call the school attendance number (563-332-6132) with the following information:

• In the event of illness
• Your child’s name.
• Your child’s teacher’s name.
• Reason for absence.
• Please state 2 symptoms describing your child’s illness. This is in accordance with Scott County Health Department (SCHD) requirements. All schools in Scott County keep track of illnesses and report them every week to the SCHD. A student’s name is not used when the information is reported. This information is collected to look for changes in types of illnesses and the number of cases reported for the county. This information is reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health who looks for changes in illnesses reported in Iowa. The information is then passed on to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) so they have an accurate picture when identifying health threats like yearly influenza.

In the event of a doctor appointment, please have your doctor’s office provide our attendance office written verification of your appointment with the following information:

1. Your child’s name
2. Date of appointment
3. Time of appointment
4. Authorizing signature

You need to call every day your child is absent or late and state the reason for your child's absence or tardiness. If some unusual and unavoidable circumstance makes it impossible for you to contact the school, you will be called at home or work for the purpose of determining your child’s absence. In cases where telephone contact cannot be made, the student must bring in a written excuse stating their absence, signed by at least one parent or the student’s guardian, on the first day back to school.                   

Students will be counted absent for one-half day if they miss more than 50 percent of the one-half day session.

---

Attendance Philosophy

School attendance is the responsibility of the student, his/her parent or guardian, and the school.  The Pleasant Valley Community School District expects students to be in school every day. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), each school is expected to maintain, at a minimum, a 95% average daily attendance throughout the year. Achieving this goal requires planning ahead and keeping school attendance a high priority. With this goal in mind:

1. Doctor and dentist appointments should be made outside the school day whenever possible.
2. Family vacation trips taken during school days are discouraged.
3. “Good Standing” means you are following all school discipline, behavior, and attendance expectations. Students are subject to losing their “Good Standing” status for a period of time to be determined by administration. Loss of “Good Standing” status may result in the loss of some or all of the following privileges:

• Open Study Hall- student will be assigned to Academic Study Hall
• Late Arrival/Early Dismissal
• Parking Privileges
• Attendance and participation in extra-curricular activities, including dances, sporting events, and other school- sponsored activities.
• Lunch room privileges
• Participation in the Graduation Ceremony
• Any other event/privilege determined by administration to fall under the “Good Standing”

---

Attendance Policy

(All Absences other than School Activities or Functions)

• Six (6) days absent in any period during a school year will result in a personal contact with parent/guardian to discuss solutions for improving attendance
• Nine (9) days absent during a school year will result in a follow-up letter and/or a personal contact to develop a plan for improved attendance. A discussion of possible truancy legal procedures and/or the establishment of an attendance contract may take place at this time. Medical documentation may be required in order for future absences to be considered “excused”.
• Fifteen (15) days absent during the school year will result in a parent conference to review the previous interventions to improve attendance. Included in this meeting will be a determination of possible truancy procedures and or schedule modifications as established in the attendance contract. A letter for documentation will also be included in this step. Students at this level may not be considered in “good standing.” Students not in “good standing” will not be eligible to attend Homecoming, Turnabout or Prom, may lose parking privileges, may lose Late Arrival/Early Dismissal privileges, and may be assigned to Restricted Study Hall, including 8th hour. Absences due to school field trips will require administrator approval. If a student remains in a class, an attendance contract will be drawn up detailing the expectations to remain in class. Failure to meet these expectations will result in withdrawal (W) from the class and no grade given/no credit given.

You must have been in attendance for three (3) of your regularly scheduled classes during a school day to participate in after-school or evening practices, games, or events. Administrator approval will be needed to participate in events if fewer than three classes of a school day is attended.

---

Unexcused Absences

Students will be provided multiple opportunities to serve disciplinary consequences while minimizing the impact to academic classes. When students are found to be unexcused or truant, they face the following disciplinary measures:

• Step one: Parent will be notified on the first unexcused referral by the attendance secretary either by phone, email, letter or automated telephone system. Students will be assigned 1 Detention and are expected to attend 8th period resource.
• Step two: Parent will be notified on the second unexcused referral by the associate principal/dean. Students will be assigned 2 Detentions and students are expected to attend 8th period resource.
• Step three: Student will be notified on the third unexcused absence referral by the associate principal/dean and will be assigned 3 Detentions. A conference with the student and/or parent, counselor, teachers and associate principal/dean will be held to discuss attendance expectations and potential loss of “Good Standing” privileges.
• Step four: Meeting between student, principal, counselor, and parent/guardian will be scheduled to determine the student’s enrollment in courses and “Good Standing” status. Results of the meeting may include a 1-3 day out of school suspension, removal from the course(s), attendance contract, schedule change, placement change, or other actions deemed appropriate.

Note: This policy is based on each semester and class. Ultimately, excused and unexcused absences will be determined by the building administrators.

 

---

Excessive Absences

Any student not in attendance for fifteen consecutive days (without a valid excuse) will be dropped from the rolls of Pleasant Valley Community High School. Pleasant Valley High School will enforce all attendance requirements as outlined by state law.  Students with six (6) or more unexcused absences in a semester may result in the student being removed from the class (Iowa Dept. of Education Attendance Policy Guidelines)

---

Arrangements for Make-Up Work

Students who miss school due to planned absences are expected to secure an Advance Make-Up form from the High School Main Office. This form is to be submitted to each teacher to obtain their course work or arrange for completion of all make-up work immediately upon their return.

Students will contact their teachers directly for missing in-class assignments and establish an agreed upon deadline. If this deadline is missed, students may be assigned to Academic Study Hall and/or 8th hour until missing work is completed. When a student knows of an assignment or project prior to the absence, the student must turn in the assignment or project immediately upon return or it will be considered missing per teacher’s policy. Students will utilize 8th period resource for exam and lab make-up.

Students will contact their teachers directly regarding missing assessments to schedule a makeup time. If this deadline is missed, the teacher will submit the assessment to administration to schedule a makeup time. If the makeup date with administration is missed, the student may receive a zero on the assessment.

---

Extended Trips/Pre-Arranged Excused Absences

It is our policy to discourage family vacation trips except during school vacations, as students almost invariably show a decline in content knowledge and grades when an absence lasts beyond three days. Students will be given a pre-arranged excused form, which they will promptly show each teacher during non-instructional time. ALL WORK IS TO BE MADE UP BEFORE THE TRIP, UNLESS THE STUDENT AND TEACHER MUTUALLY AGREE ON A LATER DUE DATE. Where it is determined that such a trip is in the best interest of the student by the family, the school requests that a written request to be absent, signed by a parent or guardian, be presented to the Associate Principal no fewer than five (5) school days prior to leaving. This allows students and teachers to prepare as much advance make-up as possible.

---

Closed Campus

Students are reminded that Pleasant Valley Community High School operates under a closed campus system. Students may not leave the high school building without prior permission from a school official. Students who violate the closed campus policy will be placed on the appropriate attendance policy step.

---

Skip Days

There are no school-sanctioned skip days for students, and knowledge of one being taken will result in regular discipline procedures being followed.

---

Late Arrivals/Early Dismissals

When it is necessary to arrive late or leave early, where no academic classes are missed, students may be granted an “Early Dismissal” or “Late Arrival”. These may be for a single day (in which case a parent’s note or phone call to the Attendance Office is satisfactory) or a “permanent” arrangement. In the latter case, students are to obtain a petition from the Attendance Office to be completed and returned before early dismissal (or late arrival) will be allowed. Students who are not in good standing with school expectations may lose their privilege for early dismissal or late arrival. This includes failure to complete the service learning requirement.

---

College/Vocational Visits

Students may attend parent-arranged visits. Students using this privilege should follow the extended trips procedure outlined on page 11 of this handbook. Students are encouraged to use a non-school day for their visit. Students participating in approved college visit days will be allowed to practice or compete in extra/co-curricular activities upon their return.

---

Lost Textbooks/Novels

Lost Textbook: if copyright is less than 5 years old, the student will be charged $50. If the copyright is 5 or more years old, student is charged $50 or has the option to replace the book through individual purchase.

Lost Novels: Student will be charged the cost of a replacement per librarian and will follow the procedures of lost library books.

---

Service Learning Requirements

Students who fail to complete their 9th/10th grade Service Learning requirements by the end of their 10th grade year will not be in “Good Standing” and will lose all privileges accordingly. In order to be eligible for parking, 10th graders need to have completed and verified at least 15 hours by the end of the first semester of their 10th grade year.

Students who have not completed their 11th/12th grade Service Learning requirements will be in jeopardy of graduating. In order to be eligible for parking and other “Good Standing” privileges, 12th graders need to have completed and verified at least 20 hours by the end of the first semester of their 10th grade year.

Any students turning in falsified hours will not be in “Good Standing” and will lose subsequent privileges as determined by administration.

For “Good Standing” criteria, please see p. 9 for clarification.

---

Tardies

(being late to class or study hall)

Students are expected to attend class on time. A one minute warning tone will indicate how much time is remaining in the passing period. For attendance purposes, any student absent for 10 minutes or more of a class is counted “Absent” .It will be the responsibility of the student to make up all work and turn in assignments during 8th period on that same day.

Three (3) tardies are the equivalent of one (1) Unexcused Absence and will result in the student being placed on Step One of our attendance policy. Per our attendance policy, excessive Tardies may result in withdrawal (W) from the class and no grade given/no credit given. Students finding themselves in this situation will be assigned to study hall and/or loss of “Good Standing” privileges.

---

Detention Sessions

A detention session is a disciplinary time period. Detentions can be served:

• Monday-Friday: 7:15am-8:00am
• Monday-Friday: 3:30pm-4:15pm
• Friday: 2:45pm-3:30pm

1. A detention is defined as 45 minutes.
2. Detentions may not be served during the school day between 8:10am-3:30pm (except Friday from 2:45pm-3:30pm)
3. Students will report to the assigned area in the school.
4. Students who receive an unexcused absence will serve detention sessions as assigned. Students who do not serve detentions on the agreed upon dates may be subject to losing “Good Standing” privileges and additional consequences may be assigned. Students who do not serve the assigned detention sessions by the end of the semester will be placed on an out of school suspension for the beginning of the next semester with a parent meeting required for admittance back into school. The length of the suspension will equate to the number of non-served detention sessions the student has accumulated.
5. Students are expected to bring school-related items to work on during the time they are assigned to the detention session.
6. Students or parents are responsible for transportation to detention sessions
7. The option will still be given to the school administrator to use regular in-school suspension instead of detention sessions if it is deemed necessary.
8. Students must serve all discipline violations in order to be eligible to remain in and receive the privileges of students in “Good Standing”.