ATTENDANCE

Under the guidance of the federal Office of Civil Rights, the South Carolina Department of Education is now requiring all districts to report students who are “chronically absent.”  Chronically absent students are defined as having missed 10% of the total days within a school year.  Research shows that students with a history of chronic absenteeism face a serious risk of falling behind in school, thus making it more difficult for them to succeed in the classroom.

As part of these requirements, South Carolina students will now be considered “absent” if they miss 50% of their instructional day for ANY reason, regardless of the classification of the absence as excused or unexcused.

This means Lexington Two students must be present for at least half of the instructional day to be considered “present” for that school day.

For our schools, these attendance requirements will look like this:

School	School Start Time	School End Time
Hybrid Elem.	7:20a.m.	2:00p.m.
Hybrid MS	8:20a.m.	3:00p.m.
Hybrid HS	9:00am	4:00pm
Virtual Elem	8:00am	3:00pm
Virtual MS	8:30am	3:45pm
Virtual  HS	8:30am	3:40pm

High School Credit Classes:  Seat-time

requirements will not change for course credit.

Attendance must be taken during each class period at the middle and high school level.  If a student reaches the set number of unexcused absences* in any course (Carnegie unit), they will not meet the state-mandated attendance requirement for that course and will not receive credit until those absences are made up.

*The attendance requirements for receiving credit or promotion are as follows:

School	Maximum Absences Allowed
Elementary and Middle Schools	10 absences  (per year-long class)
Middle and  High Schools	5 absences  (per semester class) 10 absences  (per year-long class)

Please note that chronic absenteeism is NOT the same as truancy. According to state law, a child is considered truant if they have 3 consecutive unlawful absences or a total of 5 unlawful absences. Once a student becomes truant, the district is required to develop a written intervention plan with the parent/guardian.

Any student who misses school must present a written excuse signed by his/her parent/legal guardian within 3 days of the student’s return to school. Absence and truancy laws are applicable for both onsite and virtual instruction. The principal of each school will approve or disapprove any student’s absences in excess of three (3) days for a 45 day course, five (5) days for a 90 day course, or ten (10) days for a 180 day course.

Lawful absences are those necessitated by:

• Illness of a student that may endanger his/her health or the health of others.

• Extended illness of a student that is verified in writing by a licensed medical practitioner within

3 days of return to school

• Appointment with a physician, dentist, or other recognized licensed/certified medical practitioner

verified in writing within 3 days of return to

school

• Serious illness or death in the student’s immediate family.
• Appearance in court or an appointment with a legal officer.
• Participation in school-related activities with prior approval by the principal.
• Participation in a recognized holiday of the student’s faith.
• Extenuating circumstances when approved by the principal.

The district will consider students unlawfully absent under the following circumstances:

• They are willfully absent from school without the knowledge of a parent or legal guardian.
• They are absent without acceptable cause with the knowledge of a parent or legal guardian.
• The student is suspended from school.  Suspension days, which are counted as unexcused absences, will be counted for purposes of determining credit only.  Suspension days will not be counted as unlawful absences for purpose of the state compulsory attendance law.

Attendance for a Hybrid Schedule

Students will participate in a combination of onsite and virtual instruction. On remote learning days, attendance will be based on student completion of work.  The work must be completed by the next in-person meeting.

Attendance for Virtual Academy Schedule

Attendance is determined by whether the student submits work, logs in to the class at regularly scheduled times, and participates in activities assigned by the teacher.  Students following these procedures will be considered present.  Students who fail to follow these procedures will be considered absent. Such absences will be processed in accordance with the district absence policies.

 

 

Policy JH Student Abscences and Excuses (Issued 8/21) can be found here.

 

 

Chronic Absenteeism (SC Department of Education)