Attendance Information
State law requires students in kindergarten through 12th grade to attend school a minimum of 170 of the school year 180 days to receive credit for the academic year.
- Student can be absent for no more than 10 days per school year.
- A note from a parent/guardian or certified medical practitioner must be submitted to the school immediately or within five days upon the return of the student. Failure to provide notes within five day time frame may result in an absence being considered as unverified.
- Student with 10 or more absences must be approved by the school principal.
- Student with 10 or more absences may result in non-promotion or noncredit in each course or grade.
- At the high school level, attendance requirements are set for each course.
What to do when student absent
- If you know about the absence in advance, reach out to the teacher/s to make a plan for completing missed work.
- Provide written documentation (medical excuse and/or parent note) for all absences. Turn in the written documentation to the school’s attendance secretary.
- Ensure school has up to date contact information at all times.
- If absences are going to continue or are excessive, reach out to the attendance secretary and/or the assigned school administrator to discuss the circumstance.
- Reach out to the school if there are barriers to attending school regularly.
- Help student/child to catch up on missing assignments and stay in communication with the teacher.
- Know and understand virtual attendance is not an option moving forward. If a student is absent, there is not a virtual absence to attend school.
- Reach out for help at any time.
Verified Absence
Documentation of the circumstance outlined below must be submitted to the school to be considered a verified absence.
- Illness if attendance would endanger his/her health or the health of others.
- If student has an illness that causes him/her to be absent eight or more days, you may make a request to apply for homebound instruction. You must have the proper form submitted from a medical practitioner.
- Illness or death in the immediate family
- A recognized religious holiday of the student’s faith
- Medical or dental appointments; court appearances
- Student’s participation in approved school-related activity
- Class suspensions
- An absence will only be counted as verified if a note (medical or parent) is turned in within five days of the absence
Unverified Absence
No documentation is submitted to the school.
- Absent from school without the knowledge of parent/guardian
- Absent and does not meet the conditions listed above for verified absence
Procedures & Consequences
- Parent/guardian will be notified of daily absences.
- Parent/guardian will be notified when absences start to accumulate.
- Parent/guardian will be notified when an Attendance Intervention Plan needs to be completed to determine how to improve future attendance.
- A student is considered truant when he/she has three consecutive unverified absences or a total five unverified absences.
- If truant, a petition may be sent to the Richland County Family Court where the parent and/or student may be placed on a court order.
- Parent may be fined up to $50.00 a day and /or jailed up to 30 days for each unverified absence.
Student between the ages of 12 and 17 will be held personally responsible for their attendance and may be sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice up to 90 days. Richland School District Two Attendance Policy can be read in full by clicking here.
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