ABSENCE REPORTING

If a student is absent for any reason, a parent or guardian must report the reason for absence to the Attendance Office. This can be done via phone, email, note, doctor’s note, or by completing the online attendance reporting form.

All absences are considered unexcused until the parent/guardian has contacted attendance and any required documentation is received by the attendance office.

Doctor Note Required/Failure to Attend Letters - When a student’s absence for personal illness exceeds 5 consecutive days or a total of 8 days in a six-month period, the student shall present an original “doctor’s excuse” for any additional absences due to illness. For this reason, it is best to provide a doctor's note whenever possible.

New attendance requirements for 2022-23 final exam exemptions.

KISD has the following attendance requirement for students to exempt their final exams.

ABSENCES: Students who have more than 8 absences in a semester will not be allowed to exempt their exam(s).

• • Please note: The following absence codes do NOT count toward the 8 allowable excused & unexcused absences: P: Present but not in class, S: School-sponsored curricular and extra-curricular activity that is not UIL related, V: UIL and other competitive activity

TARDY: In addition, CRHS policy is that if a student has 8 or more tardies in a single class, they will not be allowed to exempt their final for that course.

For a full exemption policy, visit My Katy Cloud and go to the Exam Exemption Criteria tile on My Katy Cloud.

STUDENT CHECK-IN AND CHECK-OUT

• Students are REQUIRED to check in and out of school through the Attendance Office.
• Students may NOT leave the campus or building at any time or for any reason during the school day without checking out through the Attendance Office.
• Parent/guardian checkout or written permission from a parent/guardian is required for any students to leave campus. If the note does not state a reason, the absence will be “unexcused” until proper documentation is received.

WHO CAN CHECK OUT A STUDENT?

Only a person specified as parent/guardian on their student enrollment card may check a student out of school or authorize another individual to pick up the student for them.

• Parent/guardian: Parents/guardians listed on the enrollment card may check their students out. They must come to the front office with their photo ID.
• Student self-checkout: Students who drive themselves may check out with parent permission. The parent/guardian must send written permission (email or note) for the student to check out and leave campus. Attendance may also call a parent to confirm before allowing the student to leave. This procedure applies to all students, even those who are 18, unless they are self-enrolled.
• Authorized adult: If a parent/guardian wants someone other than a parent/guardian to check their student out from school, they must send WRITTEN permission with a copy of their driver’s license and the full name of the authorized person to the appropriate attendance clerk. NOTE: The written authorization MUST HAVE a copy of the parent/guardian’s driver's license and include the name of the person picking up the student, the reason, and the time they need to check out. This applies even if the person is an emergency contact.

NOTE: Students will NOT be released during the school day to a rideshare service.

COLLEGE OR MILITARY VISITS

Students in 11th and 12th grade are allowed two (2) excused school days each year for college or military visits. The student is responsible for obtaining and completing a COLLEGE/ MILITARY VISIT FORM from the attendance office or from the campus website prior to the visit. Once the visit is complete and all signatures are obtained, the student must return the form to the attendance office so the absence can be updated to be excused. A letter from the university visited is accepted in place of their signature on the form, but the form with other signatures is still required. The absence remains unexcused until ALL documents are signed and returned.

REQUEST FOR SPECIAL ABSENCE

Occasionally, a student needs to be absent for a special reason (i.e. family trip, sports event, etc.). The student should obtain a Pre-Arranged Absence Form from the Attendance Office prior to the absence. The completed form may be returned to the Attendance Office or to the grade level principal for a status determination (excused or unexcused).

VIEWING YOUR STUDENT’S ATTENDANCE RECORDS

To view absences for your students, go to Home Access Center and select the Attendance Tab. Days with absences will be color coded. To see detailed information, hover over the date to see the period and reason.

COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE

If a student has 3 unexcused absences in a 4-week period or 6 unexcused absences in 6 months, the parent will receive a Compulsory Attendance Notification. The parent should contact the attendance office to correct any errors. If the absences are not corrected and unexcused absences continue, further Truancy Prevention Measures may be taken. This is the first warning in the process.

ATTENDANCE FOR CREDIT

In addition to compulsory attendance, a student must attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered to receive credit. These absences include excused and unexcused absences.

For detailed information regarding attendance policies, please refer to the Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct, and the Student Handbook.