How to Handle Absences, Tardies, and Early Dismissals

• Please notify the Attendance Office of absences via the online Absence Form, for EACH full-day of absence, preferably before 12 PM. Email the Attendance Clerk or send a note with your student to report an absence for a previous day.

• Absences reported after 12:00 p.m. may be entered the following day.

• You are also welcome to contact the teachers to inform them about your absence after filling out the form.

• All tardies/absences are unexcused unless accompanied by:  1) a doctor’s note for a healthcare appointment;  2) a parent's note explaining the reason the student is tardy/absent (reason must be in accordance with District Policy for excused reasons).

• You MUST present a picture ID when checking out your student. 

• If someone other than the parent/guardian needs to check out your student, the Attendance Office MUST receive written permission and a photocopied ID of the adult picking up for early dismissal (whether they are on the contact list or not).  Please include the student’s name,  grade, the legal name of the person picking up the student and their relationship with the student, the reason for leaving, and the specific date and time the student is being picked up.  This note and ID copy need to be dropped off at the Attendance Office on the morning of the early dismissal.  Unfortunately, we cannot accept emails for this process.

• Early Dismissal – Generally, please allow 10 minutes for us to pull your student from class.  To avoid a longer wait…you have the option to send a note to attendance in the morning (with your student) for same-day parent pickups.  Your student will receive a pass to come to the front office at the time you specify.  Unfortunately, we cannot accept emails for this process.

• The latest check-out is at 3:30 p.m.

How to Handle an Attendance Correction

• Please contact the teacher as the first point of contact regarding a student’s presence/absence/tardiness in class, especially if you have received an automated call from the District.  Contact the teacher the same day, if possible.

• For healthcare appointments and teacher corrections, please allow 24-48 hours to update the system.  Parents can access their student’s attendance history on the Home Access Center to verify corrections.

How to Handle Compulsory Attendance Notifications (CAN Letters)**

• A CAN LETTER is sent when a student has 3 or more unexcused absences in a 4-week period or 10 or more in a 6-month period.  ** includes unexcused absences for individual class periods.  Important: check HAC daily/weekly for discrepancies and contact the teacher the same week.**  

• A CAN LETTER IS SENT WHEN A STUDENT HAS 8 OR MORE PERSONAL ILLNESS ABSENCES IN A 6-MONTH PERIOD. When possible, send a doctor’s note to avoid having too many personal illness absences (note/call-in by a parent). 

• If you receive a CAN letter from the district, you have only 5 school days to resolve it with the school Attendance Clerk.  Unresolved CAN letters may result in a Court Warning Notification and/or subpoena.

• For more details concerning attendance laws and violation consequences, please refer to your Discipline Management Plan and Student Code of Conduct booklet from the district, or go to katyisd.org, click on the Parents tab, go to Compulsory Attendance (left side of the screen).

  *Note – A ‘Pre-arranged Absences’ form must be completed for advance notice of absences.  Family events, business trips, and vacations are unexcused and will generate an automatic attendance message from the district.  If you have given prior notification, you do not need to do anything further – simply delete the message.