Attendance/Truancy
Good attendance is the first step toward academic success and we expect all students to be on time and in class every day. Parents and guardians must comply with the State of Connecticut’s compulsory attendance requirements (Connecticut General Statute 10-184). This statute states that children must attend school until the age of 18.
We consider students to be truant if they have more than four days of unexcused absences in a month or 10 days of unexcused absences in a school year. We report truancy to the appropriate authorities.
The State Board of Education has defined two levels of criteria for an absence to be considered an excused absence. Level one includes the first nine absences and excuses them for any reason that the student’s parent or guardian approves, provided that the parent/guardian follows the notification timeline noted above. Level two absences are those beginning at 10 and include student illness, observance of a religious holiday, death of a family member or family emergency, mandated court appearances, and/or extraordinary educational opportunities approved by the building principal. All level two absences require proper documentation from the parent or guardian.
The parent or guardian must provide a medical professional’s note for every excused absence after meeting the threshold of nine days. Submit documentation to the nurse’s office when the student returns to school.
We urge parents to schedule family vacations during the regular school year vacation time. If your family decides to take a vacation during the school year, you will need to communicate this to the school principal. It is difficult to replicate instruction that students miss during absences. We invite you to read the State Statute about absences.