Attendance
ATTENDANCE OFFICE
General Attendance Information:
Regular attendance and punctuality are vital from the start of the school year until the last day. Frequent absences and tardies interfere with your student’s academic development. Academic failure is almost always associated with more than 10 days (about 2 weeks) of absence each semester.
Reporting a student absent:
If a student is absent from school, a note must be emailed to Mrs. Alcorn in the Attendance Office. Notes received will then be coded. Please email all parent and doctor’s notes to Mrs. Alcorn in the Attendance Office at salcorn@ccboe.com.
Once you have emailed Mrs. Alcorn, please allow 2-3 business days for changes to take place in Synergy. No further action is needed.
Note: After (3) three days of Sick and/or Mental Health, a doctor’s note is required to excuse the absence.
For auditing purposes parents are not required to call the Attendance Office to report a student absence. Please submit a note by email to the school for the absence to be excused. Until a note is received by the attendance office, all official excusable absences will be marked unexcused.
NOTE: If your student attends Stethem for a CTE (Career and Technical Education) AM or PM program(s), please send the excuse note to both Stethem and La Plata Attendance Offices to ensure your student attendance is processed correctly at both schools.
Excused Absences:
- Illness
- Mental health/Behavioral Health
- Family funerals
- Religious holidays
- Medical appointments
- Court summons
- CCPS Bus delays/no-shows
The absences listed above are considered as excused, with the submission of notes. NOTE: A medical note is needed after 3 consecutive days of absences for mental health and illnesses. For out-of-town funerals exceeding 3 days, please use Form Code 13 (Code 13 only grants a total of 5 days in any school year).
Unexcused Absences:
- Car trouble/flat tire
- Work
- Missing the bus/ride
- Busy traffic
- Oversleeping
- MVA exams (permit and driving test)
- Behind the wheel driving lessons
- Family or personal business
- Class cutting
- Court appointments for traffic violations
Note that these absences are UNEXCUSABLE and could be considered truancy. (Unexcused absences DO COUNT towards the student’s attendance under the CCPS attendance policy)
CCPS Attendance Policy:
Regular attendance at school is vital to educational development. If students are absent from school due to illness or for another legitimate reason, they must bring a written excuse signed by their parent, legal guardian or doctor. Students and parents/guardians have five days to verify tardiness or absences, after which they are coded unlawful. Parents/guardians are expected to call the school by the third day of consecutive absences.
A student is counted present for a full day if the student is in attendance four or more hours of the school day. A student is counted present for one-half of the day if in attendance for at least two hours of the school day, but less than four hours. A student scheduled for less than a full day of classes is to be counted present based on the amount of time he/she is scheduled.
Parents are highly discouraged from scheduling vacations that result in unlawful absences from school. However, high school students visiting an institution of higher education in anticipation for potential future enrollment may be granted a lawful absence if the parents/guardians give a two-week notice, receive permission from the school principal and the trips are limited to no more than five days in any school year. Other lawful absences include: death in the immediate family; illness (whether physical health or behavioral health) of the student which requires a note from a parent/guardian or physician; court summons; hazardous weather conditions; work approved or sponsored by the school; observance of religious holidays; state emergencies; student suspension; lack of authorized transportation; health exclusion; and other emergencies or circumstances which in the judgment of the Superintendent provide a “good and sufficient cause for absence from school.”
Students unlawfully absent more than 10% of the school days in any given marking period (4.5 days), semester (9 days) or academic year (18 days) may be considered for retention. Parents of students who have a history of chronic truancy may be referred for intervention at any time. Additionally, school officials adhere to the following communication plan:
1. Daily automated call out.
2. After five absences of any kind (excused or unexcused), the school will notify parents/guardians through a letter sent home, by phone or other electronic communication.
3. After 10 absences (excused or unexcused), parents/guardians are contacted. A meeting may be set to develop an attendance improvement plan.
4. After 15 absences (excused or unexcused), the student may be referred to the school's pupil personnel worker.
5. Additional absences may result in the student and their parent/guardian being referred to the State’s Attorney’s Office for possible legal action for chronic truancy.
NOTE: These requirements do not apply to Chronically Health-Impaired Program (CHIP) students, students on home teaching or those with medical excuses.
Checking a Student Out of School
Early dismissal requests should be sent in advance to Mrs. Turner pturner@ccboe.com and Mrs. Hall chall@ccboe.com. When sending emails for early dismissals, parent/guardian must immediately follow up with a phone call for verbal consent. If requests are emailed after hours, please call the school office (301-753-1754) after 7:15 a.m. the following morning. Students are not permitted to leave the building without both written and verbal consent along with a dismissal pass. NOTE: If you add an emergency contact to your student’s profile, they will be allowed to pick up your student unless notified otherwise.
Dismissal notes should include the student’s first and last name, dismissal time, reason for dismissal, and indicate whether your student will be driving or picked up. If they are being picked up, the email should also include the first and last name of the person picking up the student. Parent/guardian requesting the dismissal should also include their first and last name as a signature.
Due to buses entering the school lot for dismissal, students leaving early must be dismissed before 1:45 p.m. on a regular school day and before 11:45 a.m. on a two-hour early dismissal day.
** No student, including student drivers, will be permitted to leave school without following proper dismissal procedures. **
Early Dismissal Request:
To enter any Charles County Public School buildings, you must have a State Issued Driver's License to be scanned or copied. Please allow time in your schedule for the Main Office to retrieve your student from their class. (Students could be testing, in Athletics, or in a Lab, etc.).
Students Arriving Late to School:
All students who are late to school need to check in on the iPad in the Attendance Office to receive a late pass. This includes student drivers. They cannot just enter the building and go directly to class. If your student rides a bus and it is late to school, they do not have to check in with the attendance office. The front office makes an announcement over the PA system that these students can go straight to class.
College Visits:
Students visiting an institution of higher education in anticipation for potential future enrollment may be granted a lawful absence if the parents/guardians give a two-week notice prior to the trip and receive authorization from Mrs. Alcorn in the Attendance Office. The trips are limited to no more than (5) five days total in any school year. Documentation from the institution must be submitted BEFORE the visit to excuse the absence.
Code 13 Form
Code 13 Form for Family Emergencies, College Visits, Work Approved or Other Circumstance
CODE 13 Form Parent Request for Excused Absence Central Office Approval Required: Other emergency or set of circumstances which, in the judgment of the Superintendent or designee, constitutes a good and sufficient cause for absence from school for up to five school days per school year, including an education trip or unique life experience. A vacation is not considered an educational trip or a unique life experience.
This document is approved by Mrs. Alcorn in the Attendance Office and must be completed and sent to salcorn@ccboe.com. Please give a two week notice before the requested absence.
Examples of Code 13 Absences:
· College or high school graduation of sibling/family member (must provide documentation from the event)
· Wedding
· Athletic competition not sponsored by the school (must provide documentation from the event)
· Performing arts not sponsored by the school (must provide documentation from the event)
· Family Emergency – please state what the emergency is
· Military – visit with deployed parent or legal guardian
· Military retirement or promotion ceremony (must provide documentation from the event)
· College Visit (must provide email confirmation from the school)
· Visiting ill family member
Other Pertinent Information:
If a student becomes ill at school, he/she needs to report to the school nurse upon release from the teacher. The nurse will determine if he/she needs to be excused due to illness. The parent/guardian will be contacted by the nurse to arrange pick up and sign out the student in the Main Office. If the student is sent home by the nurse, this is considered an excused absence (DOES NOT count towards the student’s attendance under the CCPS attendance policy) for the remainder of that day. Subsequent absences will need a parent note to be excused. Should the nurse choose not to send a student home due to illness and the parent chooses to sign out their student, this is an excused absence upon receipt of a parent note via email to the Attendance Office.
Custodial/Non-Custodial Parents in School
What We Need From Parents:
· Parents must provide the school a copy of the child’s birth certificate or other legal document showing the names of the natural parents or guardians.
· Parents must provide the school with any court order showing the rights of the natural parents or other individuals. The court order must be the complete and most recent court order concerning the child. Updated and amended versions must be provided to the school as soon as possible.
· Parents must accept that the school system and its employees will not play favorites with parents. Parents should not attempt to put their child’s teacher or other school staff in the middle of their disputes.
· Parents must not cause a disruption at school. Individuals who do so may be banned from the school. School is not the place for parents to settle private disputes or to compensate for their inability to visit with their child off school grounds.
Rights of All Natural Parents:
· Natural parents are presumed to be the natural guardians to their child.
· Parents are jointly and individually responsible for the support, care, nurturing, welfare and education of their child.
· Neither natural parent is presumed to have a right to custody or decision making over the other parent, unless there is a court order.
· Separation or divorce does not change the legal rights of the parents, unless there is a court order defining those legal rights. The school system does not recognize less-formal documentation, such as notarized statements or informal agreements.
· Married, unmarried, separated or divorced parents who share legal custody share equally the right to make major decisions for their child, such as enrollment in a particular school system or the placement of the child in a specialized program.
Rights of Custodial Parents
· The school system cooperates with parents in implementing court orders, such as recognizing the rights of the primary physical custodian.
· When both parents share physical custody, or in the absence of a court order, the school system will recognize as the primary physical custodian the parent/guardian domiciled with the child at the address registered with the school system.
· The primary physical custodian has the right to make day-to-day decisions for the child, such as emergency card information, who picks up the child from school, or whether the child can participate in a field trip.
· Because the primary physical custodian has the right to know where their child is at all times when attending school, the school system reserves the right not to release a child from school to the non-physical custodian absent in an emergency.
· The school system is not responsible for enforcing visitation or custody schedules. In the absence of full cooperation by parents, the school system will expect that, upon the end of the school day, the child will return to the location where he or she came from that morning, and any visitation or other arrangements shall occur off school grounds.
Rights of Non-Custodial Parents:
· Parents who do not have legal or physical custody still retain certain rights, unless a court order expressly states otherwise.
· Noncustodial parents may meet with their child’s teacher and other school staff, may obtain a copy of school records, may chaperone on field trips at the school’s discretion, and may arrange to receive parental communications from the school, unless there is a court order stating otherwise.
· The school system retains the right (but is not obligated) to notify the custodial parent anytime the noncustodial parent requests information from or asks to meet with school employees or participate in school activities.
· Stepparents and other individuals have no direct right to receive information about a student or discuss a student with school employees, unless they have legal guardianship or permission of the legal custodian. Additionally, they may not register or withdraw a student unless they have legal guardianship. However, they may participate in any school meetings held with the custodial or noncustodial parent, at the parent’s request.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What documents do parents need to provide to the school?
Parents must provide a copy of the child's birth certificate or other legal documents showing the names of the natural parents or guardians. Additionally, any court orders concerning the child's custody must be provided.
What rights do natural parents have regarding their child’s education?
Natural parents are presumed to be the guardians of their child and are jointly responsible for their support, care, nurturing, welfare, and education. Separation or divorce does not change these legal rights unless defined by a court order.
How does the school system recognize custodial parents?
The school system cooperates with court orders and recognizes the primary physical custodian as the parent/guardian domiciled with the child at the registered address. This custodian has the right to make day-to-day decisions for the child.
Can non-custodial parents access their child’s school records?
Yes, noncustodial parents can meet with their child's teacher, obtain copies of school records, chaperone field trips (at the school's discretion), and receive parental communications from the school unless restricted by a court order.
What happens if parents cause a disruption at school?
Parents who cause disruptions may be banned from the school. The school is not a place for parents to settle private disputes or compensate for their inability to visit their child off school grounds.
Does the school enforce visitation or custody schedules?
No, the school system is not responsible for enforcing visitation or custody schedules. It expects that the child will return to the location where they came from in the morning upon the end of the school day.
Can the school release a child to a non-physical custodian?
The school reserves the right not to release a child to a non-physical custodian unless there is an emergency.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do I have to verify tardiness or absences before they are coded as unlawful?
Five (5) days (Please refer to CCPS Parent Handbook)
How many absences can my child have per marking period?
Marking period 4.5 days/Semester 9 days/Yearly 18 days (about 3.5 weeks), for additional information, please refer to the CCPS Sports Eligibility Policy below:
Grade 9: A student who is promoted from eighth grade to ninth grade automatically meets the GPA and attendance eligibility requirements for the first semester.
Except for students promoted from eighth grade to ninth grade in their first semester, absences count against eligibility. Students who are absent fewer than 5 days from the previous quarter may be eligible without providing documentation. Students who are absent 5 or more days may provide documentation for a lawful absence within 5 days of the absence with a limit of 5 parent notes. A suspension will count against eligibility.
Grades 10-12:
- Students must meet local promotion standards.
- Students must have earned a 2.0 GPA from the previous quarter with no failing “F” grades for quarters 1, 2, and 3.
- Students must have earned a final 2.0 GPA with no final “F” grades for any yearlong or second semester course from the previous school year.
- Absences count against eligibility. Students who are absent fewer than 5 days from the previous quarter may be eligible without providing documentation. Students who are absent 5 or more days may provide documentation for a lawful absence within 5 days of the absence with a limit of 5 parent notes. A suspension will count against eligibility.
Lawful Absences as defined by COMAR 13A.08.01.03
- Illness of a student documented by a parent or doctor’s note
- Pregnancy and parenting related issues
- Court summons
- Death of family member
- Other emergency as approved by the principal
- Hazardous weather conditions
- Work approved or sponsored by the school
- Observance of a religious holiday
- State of emergency
- Lack of authorized transportation
The Superintendent shall adopt rules concerning how a student’s absence during a school day affects the student’s ability to participate in extracurricular and/or athletic activities that school day.
In addition, the following guidelines will be adhered to when determining eligibility for each quarter:
Except for students promoted from eighth grade to ninth grade, students who wish to participate in fall extracurricular and/or athletic activities will need to meet eligibility requirements based on their final grade-point average at the end of the previous year.
1. Except for students promoted from eighth grade to ninth grade, students who wish to participate in winter extracurricular and/or athletic activities will need to meet eligibility requirements based on their first quarter grade-point average.
2. Students who wish to participate in spring extracurricular and or athletic activities will need to meet eligibility requirements based on their second quarter grade-point average.
3. Except for students promoted from eighth grade to ninth grade in their first semester, if a student received a failing grade in quarters 1,2, or 3, she/he is ineligible for the remainder of the season, for post-season play, and for the following quarter.
4. Students academically ineligible at the end of the school year due to a failing grade may regain eligibility by attending and passing any/all summer school class(es) that caused the student’s ineligibility. Students may regain eligibility only by taking the same summer school class to improve a failing grade or the corresponding equivalent that meets graduation requirements. Grade point average requirements will be recalculated after the completion of summer school.
5. Summer school classes taken for original credit do not count towards or against eligibility.
6. Students cannot gain or regain eligibility at interim or at any time during the quarter and/or season.
Are vacations considered an excused absence?
No. Parents are discouraged from scheduling vacations during the school year. In the event of an emergency, please refer to FORM CODE 13 (FAMILY EMERGENCIES/WORK APPROVED/OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES) see CODE 13 section above.
Can someone listed on my emergency contact list pick up my student?
Yes. The emergency contact list is used in the event of an emergency and the parent/guardian cannot be reached, then the school will begin to reach out to the individuals that you have listed.
How do I get College visit absences approved?
Please refer to College Visits above.
What to do if my student was marked absent from class?
Contact the teacher directly to correct the marking in Synergy. The attendance office cannot verify if your student was in class and cannot make the update in Synergy without the teacher's request.
I received an Attendance Letter. What happens next?
o After five (5) absences of any kind (excused or unexcused), the school will notify parents/guardians through a letter sent home, by phone or other electronic communication.
o After ten (10) absences (excused or unexcused), parents/guardians are contacted. A meeting may be held to develop an attendance improvement plan.
o After fifteen (15) absences (excused or unexcused), the student may be referred to the school's pupil personnel worker.
o Additional absences may result in the student and their parent/guardian being referred to the State’s Attorney’s Office for possible legal action for chronic truancy.