The Board of Education has established the following rules and regulations regarding attendance, absences and excuses for students.  These rules and regulations are intended to comply with Missouri Compulsory Attendance Law (167.031 RSMo.) which establishes compulsory attendance for all children between the ages of seven and sixteen unless their education is provided by other acceptable means or otherwise excusable under the law.

In case of absence, it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to contact the school.  If the school is not notified on the day of absence, a note from the parent/guardian will be required on the first day of the student's return to school.  The absence will be recorded and coded verifying the reason for the absence.

Reasons for absences include, but are not limited to:

1. Illness of the student (Doctor's statement may be required to support such absences.)
2. Days of religious observance
3. Death in the family
4. Family emergencies

When absences are foreseen the school must be notified in advance of the student absence.

The following procedures should be followed by students who are absent so as to prevent academic difficulties:

1. The student shall obtain assignments from appropriate staff members.  Assignments shall be obtained in advance if the absence is foreseen.
2. All assigned work shall be submitted upon returning to school.
3. All classroom work (to include tests) shall be completed as indicated by the individual classroom teacher.

Excessive Absences

The purpose of the attendance policy is to encourage regular school attendance by all students. There is a direct relationship among attendance, grades, and success in school. Students who are absent from school are not able to participate in class discussions, small group activities, or class experiments. Some of these experiences are not possible to make up; therefore, regular attendance is an important component of the educational process. In order to receive credit for courses at Hallsville High School, a student may not miss more than 8 days of school per semester in any class period.

All absences will be counted towards the 8 allowable days, regardless of their nature. Parent-verified absences, doctor excuses, funerals, driver’s license exams, court appearances, and truancy will all be counted the same towards the 8 days. Documentation of doctors’ office visits, funerals, and court appearances will still be collected and added to a student’s file for the purpose of collecting information for the appeals committee.

If a student goes beyond the 8 allowable absences in a semester, he or she will not be eligible to receive credit for any class period that violates the attendance policy. When this occurs, students can appeal to the attendance committee to have his or her credits issued. The committee will meet at the end of each semester to allow any student due process in the attendance policy process. After the student has had the opportunity to state his or her appeal, the committee will vote to decide to issue the credits being appealed, to offer a contingency of the credits by the student not violating the attendance policy the next semester, to issue the credits with a committee recommended make-up plan, or to uphold the decision that the student is unable to earn credit.  The decisions of the attendance policy committee may be appealed to the superintendent of Hallsville R-IV Schools.

Students are required to make up work as a result of class periods missed.  It is the student’s responsibility to meet with the teacher to obtain the necessary assignments and instructions.

Any exceptions to the items cited above shall be approved by the Board of Education.  Each principal may have written policies which further detail procedures for making up work, reporting absences, etc.

1.         After a student has been absent for three (3) consecutive days, it is the building principal’s responsibility to contact the parent/guardian by telephone or letter in order to inquire about the reason for the student’s absence.

2.         If the principal is unable to contact the parent/guardian within three (3) days or the parent/guardian does not give a reasonable explanation for the absence within three (3) days, the building principal shall send a registered letter to the parent/guardian requesting a conference within a week.

3.         If the parent/guardian does not contact the principal within a week of receipt of the registered letter, the building principal will make a referral to the proper legal authorities.

4.         The building principal shall also notify the office of the Superintendent in writing of the excessive absence and continue to update the Superintendent on the situation.

Any absence from class as a result of a school-sanctioned activity is not recorded as an absence for purposes of this policy.  Example:  field trip, athletic event, student activity, etc.  It is the student’s responsibility to remind all of his/her teachers following a school-sanctioned absence to use the attendance correction form if he/she was reported absent inadvertently.

A student is expected to make up work as a result of class periods missed.  It shall be the student’s responsibility to meet with the teacher and receive the necessary instructions and assignments.

Any exceptions to the items cited above shall be approved by the Board of Education.

Each principal may have written policies which further detail procedures for making up work, reporting absence, etc.