When your student is absent...
Please email [email protected] with the reason for your child's absence. You may also send a note or excuse from your health care provider with your student upon his or her return to school. A written excuse is required by law in order call an absence Excused.
Excused Absences
The Board of Education Policy, in agreement with Ohio Revised Code Section 3321.04 and Ohio Administrative Code 3301-69-02, states the reasons for which students may be excused from school, including the following:
1. Illness of the student.
2. Illness in the student’s family necessitating the presence of the student.
3. Quarantine of the home for a contagious disease determined by a medical professional.
4. Death of a relative.
5. Medical or healthcare appointment.
6. Observance of religious holiday consistent with his/her truly held religious beliefs.
7. Board approved activity/College visitation with proof of attendance.
8. Mandated court appearance.
9. Absences due to immigration circumstances.
10. Absences due to a student’s placement in foster care.
11. Absences due to a student being homeless.
12. Emergency or other set of circumstances in which the judgment of the superintendent of schools constitute a good and sufficient cause for absence from school.
All absences will remain unexcused until the appropriate documentation from a parent/guardian is on file in the school office.
Excessive Absences and Habitual Truancy:
Research continually connects student attendance to student achievement. It is our philosophy at Reynoldsburg City Schools that establishing positive attendance patterns will increase student achievement and encourage a life-long habit that will prepare students for the future. Make-up work cannot replace the academic and social emotional learning activities that occur in our classrooms.
Ohio House Bill 410
Ohio law states that attendance is now taken in terms of hours missed, not days absent. Each day of school equals six hours. Each hour of school missed will be calculated and reported as either unexcused or excused time missed from school. According to the law, if your child misses a certain number of hours, they will be considered Excessively Absent or Habitually Truant. The following describes the definitions and steps taken by the school district regarding school attendance:
Warning Notification
A warning notification will be sent out to inform you of when your child is getting close to reaching habitual truancy or excessive absences. This notification may come in different forms, such as by letter, phone call, automated message or email. If you receive this notification, please turn in excuses as soon as possible to avoid your child becoming habitually truant or excessively absent from school.
ALL time missed from school (excused and unexcused), except any time where a medical excuse is provided, is calculated from late arrivals, early dismissals, and full day absences.
Excessively Absent Status
If excessive absences are reached, a letter will be sent home to notify you and the school will continue to monitor your child’s attendance. No plan is required at this time. A student will become Excessively Absent if they reach one or more of the following:
a. Absent 38 or more hours in one school month, with or without a legitimate excuse; or
b. Absent 65 or more hours in one school year, with or without a legitimate excuse.
Habitually Truant Status
Only unexcused time counts toward habitual truancy hours. This time is calculated from late arrivals, early dismissals, and full day absences. *According to the law, no student shall be suspended, expelled, or removed from school solely on the basis of unexcused absences. A student will become Habitually Truant if they reach one or more of the following:
a. Absent 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse;
b. Absent 42 or more hours in one month without a legitimate excuse; or
c. Absent 72 or more hours in one year without a legitimate excuse.