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ATTENDANCE POLICY

The progress and success of each student depend greatly upon regular attendance at school for the entire school day. Good attendance is an important life skill that students should become familiar with and practice at an early age. Strict enforcement of attendance is one way of teaching and reinforcing these concepts.  Regular attendance is necessary to ensure maximum educational benefits. A student who is not present in school is not learning. Because excessive absences from class result in a lack of participation and interaction by the student with the teacher and class,  Jackson Charter School adheres to the following attendance policy. 

Please note: By state law, students must be in academic classes 300 minutes a day (not including any passing time) to receive a full-day attendance credit and 150 minutes to receive a half-day attendance credit in grades 2 through 12. Students PK through 1 must be in academic class 240 minutes to receive a full-day attendance credit and 120 minutes to receive a half-day attendance credit. 

  1. Reporting of absences: 

If a student will be absent from school, the parent/guardian must telephone the school office at 815-316-0093 by 8:30 AM on the day of the absence. Absences reported through electronic means will not be accepted. The parent/guardian must call each day the student is absent unless previous arrangements have been made. If the parent/guardian has not called in prior to two hours of the school day passing, our automated system will call the parent/guardian to inform him/her of the student’s absence. If no contact is made with the parent/guardian on the day the student is absent, administration will classify the absence as unexcused. 

  1. The determination as to whether an absence is excused or unexcused will be made by school administration according to Illinois law and school policy. 

The Five-Day Excused Absence Policy: 

Per Illinois law, students are allowed to take up to five (5) days off for mental or behavioral health, without a doctor’s note. These days will be used prior to the accumulation of any other unexcused absences.  

 

Students who accumulate more than five (5) days of absences per year must  provide proof of the nature of the absence, for example, a note from the  doctor, for the absence to be considered excused. Failure  to do so will result in the absence to be considered unexcused. If a student is ill for two  (2) or more consecutive days, prior to that student returning to school for instruction, parents/guardians should obtain a doctor’s note certifying the student is well enough to return to school. 

Valid reasons for excused absences include illness of the  student, injury, unavoidable accident or emergency, and anticipated absence with  administration approval prior to the absence. 

Excused absences not counted in the five (5) day rule are: religious holidays; medical  appointments; funeral for family members; court  appearance; extended serious/critical illness of  student; other absences beyond the control of the student as  determined by the RCSO Board and administration, or other circumstances which cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the mental, emotional, or physical  health or safety of the student. All excused absences require written proof/documentation.

Students absent for ten (10) consecutive days or more for any reason may be dropped from our enrollment roster. 

Release for appointments: 

Parents/Guardians are encouraged to make appointments during times that do not  conflict with school and instructional time. Students will only be released to  parents/guardians if the parent/guardian has called the school prior to the student being  picked up and provided the name of the person to pick up the student. Whoever is  picking up the student should provide the school with a photo ID. 

In order to be excused for an appointment, the following procedure must be followed: 

Prior to the appointment the parent/guardian should call the school and give the  following information: 

  • Name and grade of student 
  • Time of appointment 
  • Type of appointment 
  • Time to be released from school 
  • Approximate time of return to school 

On the day of the appointment, students will be called to the office for pickup once the parent/guardian has arrived at the school, where they must be signed out. When the student returns, they must sign back in  through the office, with a written note from the doctor verifying the appointment.  All appointments not verified by written proof from the doctor will be considered  unexcused. 

Illness at school: 

If a student becomes ill while at school, if prudent, the student will first be sent to the  school nurse for an evaluation. If after evaluation it is determined the student needs to  be sent home for the day, the school nurse will contact the student’s parent/guardian  to pick up the student. Students may not use classroom phones, cell phones, or other  electronic communications equipment for the purposes of contacting home when ill. 

Missed Assignments: 

Students absent from school for the above excused reasons shall be allowed to complete  all coursework missed during the absence that can reasonably be provided and, upon  satisfactory completion in the allotted time frame, shall be given full credit. All makeup coursework must be completed within the restraints stated by the student’s  homeroom teacher, or they will be recorded as a missing assignment, and given a grade  of zero. 

Unexcused absences: 

All absences not previously classified or absences that would otherwise be considered  excused which lack the appropriate documentation, are considered unexcused absences.  Students who accumulate five unexcused absences can be referred to the truancy  intervention programs of the Regional Office of Education.

The following are examples of unexcused absences. This is not an all-inclusive list.  

  • Lack of ride to school 
  • Missing the school bus 
  • Oversleeping 
  • Participation in non-school sponsored events 
  • Personal business 
  • Private vehicle breakdown or failure to start 
  • Truancy 

Trips/Vacations: 

Research indicates that it is not educationally sound to remove your child from school  for a trip or vacation. If this occurs, your child misses out on valuable interaction and contact with the teacher and other students. Student attendance days compose only 183  out of 365 days in a calendar year — please utilize the remaining non-attendance days for planning family trips/vacations.  

Tardiness: 

Tardiness is disruptive to the educational process and is inconsiderate to both teachers  and other students; therefore, it is imperative that students are punctual. The school day starts at 7:50 a.m. Absent extenuating circumstances as determined by the School  

Executive Director, a student is considered tardy when he/she arrives to class  after the bell has rung — 8:00 a.m. Please know that three (3) tardies equals one  absence. These absences will count as unexcused. Any unexcused absences will count  towards Truancy.  

TRUANCY POLICY 

The Illinois School Code requires all students ages 6 to 17 to attend school. The  Community and Family Engagement Specialist acts as the truancy officer for our  school, tracking student attendance information and assisting families with issues  related to truancy so they can avoid court. In an attempt to curb unexcused  absences, the Community and Family Engagement Specialist will attempt to  determine the underlying causes for student absenteeism which can include  interviews with students, parents/guardians, and other school officials. Should that  route not be effective, the Community and Family Engagement Specialist requires  court petitions to be filed. The following constitutes Jackson’s Truancy Policy:  

  1. a) Excused Absences: 
  2. A valid basis for an excused absence includes the following: 
  3. Illness/injury of the student or extended serious/critical illness of an immediate family member; 
  4. unavoidable accident or emergency; 

iii. anticipated absence with administration approval prior to the absence; iv. Religious holidays; 

  1. Medical appointments with written proof from doctor; 
  2. Funeral for family members; 

vii. Court appearance with written proof from court; 

viii. Other absences beyond the control of the student as determined by the RCSO Board and administration; and 

  1. Other circumstances which cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian

for the mental, emotional, or physical health or safety of student.

  1. b) Procedures for Unexcused Absences: 
  2. Step 1: 
  3. After a student accumulates 3 unexcused absences a letter will be sent home with the student informing the parent/guardian of absences. 
  4. A notification letter is mailed home to notify parents/guardians of the absences. 
  5. A copy of the school attendance policy will accompany the notification letter. 
  6. Parents/Guardians should call school to confirm receipt of the letter. b. Step 2: 
  7. After a student accumulates 4 unexcused absences, a letter will be sent home with the student informing the parents/guardian of the absences, and a mandatory meeting will be set by the Community and Family Engagement Specialist to discuss the truancy policy and interventions that may help the family eliminate or reduce absences. 
  8. A certified notification letter is mailed home to notify the parents/guardians of the absence. 
  9. A copy of the school attendance policy will accompany the notification letter. 
  10. The Community and Family Engagement Specialist will contact the parent/guardian to attend a mandatory meeting to create an intervention plan for attendance. Failure to attend the meeting will result in the matter being forwarded to Step 3. 
  11. The parent/guardian will receive a call to confirm the meeting time and location. 
  12. The Intervention Attendance Plan will be written during this meeting. c. Step 3: 

i.After a student accumulates 5 unexcused absences a letter will be sent home via certified mail informing the parents/guardians of absences and a mandatory meeting will be set by the Community and Family Engagement Specialist to discuss the truancy interventions in place and to modify them as necessary. 

  1. A 2nd certified notification letter is mailed home to notify parents/guardians of the absences. 
  2. A copy of the school attendance policy will accompany the notification letter. 
  3. The Community and Family Engagement Specialist or Truancy Officer will contact the parent/guardian for a mandatory meeting to create an intervention plan for attendance. Failure to attend the meeting will result in the matter being forwarded to Step 4. 
  4. The parent/guardian will receive a call to confirm the meeting time and location. 
  5. The Intervention Attendance Plan from Step 2 will be revised during this second meeting. 
  6. The parent/guardian must attend a mandatory class “The Correlation of Student Attendance with Student Achievement. 
  7. Step 4: 
  8. After a student accumulates 10 unexcused absences a letter will be sent home via certified mail informing the parent/guardian of the absences and that a petition will be filed with the Regional Office of Education for

Truancy Court. A phone call to DCFS will also be made at this time. 1. A 3rd certified notification letter is mailed home to notify the parent/guardian of the absences. 

  1. A copy of the school attendance policy will accompany the notification letter. 
  2. The Truancy Officer will forward the matter on for Educational Neglect/Truancy Petition. 
  3. c) Additional Support Services: 
  4. Where appropriate, the Community and Family Engagement Specialist will also identify support services to be made available to truant/chronically truant students. These can include: 
  5. Student/Family Counseling; 
  6. Community services; and 

iii. Other services deemed appropriate for the Student. 

Reminder: An absence may only be excused if documentation from a doctor, dentist,  court date, or funeral is provided to the main office within 24 hours of the absence.  Parents/Guardian should still call the main office to inform the school of the reason for  the absence. Once the documentation is submitted, the absence will convert over to  an excused absence. Please note that three (3) tardies will accumulate and equal 1  unexcused absence.