Attendance Policy
Parents/Guardians are required to report all absences for their child to the school office the day the child is absent. Please call the office of your student’s school and speak to the secretary or leave a message, stating your child’s first AND last name, your name and the reason for the absence. The school office must be notified of your child’s absence within two hours of the start of the school day. The 2 Hour Rule: According to the law, when a student is absent from school, the school is required to make at least one attempt to contact the parent/guardian within 2 hours after the beginning of each school day. If the parent/guardian contacts the school within 2 hours after the beginning of the school day, the school is no longer obligated to make contact.
Before school begins on the first day of your child’s return, the parents/guardian must: a. Provide a written note or send an email to the building secretary with the following information: The student’s first and last name, the exact dates of the absence or tardy and the reason for the absence or tardy. The parent/guardian must also provide their first and last name and a daytime phone number where they can be reached.
OR
b. Provide legitimate documentation from a healthcare professional, government official, college, or board approved activity that states: The student’s first and last name, the exact dates and reason for the absence or tardy, the name of the provider or representative, and their contact information.
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:
- Illness of the student.
- Illness in the student’s family necessitating the presence of the student.
- Quarantine of the home for a contagious disease determined by a medical professional.
- Death of a relative.
- Medical or healthcare appointment.
- Observance of religious holiday consistent with his/her truly held religious beliefs.
- Board approved activity/College visitation with proof of attendance.
- Mandated court appearance.
- Absences due to immigration circumstances.
- Absences due to a student’s placement in foster care.
- Absences due to a student being homeless.
- 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.
Medical and Nonmedical Excuses
The definitions of medical and nonmedical excuses are defined by Reynoldsburg City Schools, in accordance with Ohio Administrative Codes 3301-69-02 and 3301-18-01. Medical Excuses refer to any documentation excusing attendance that is from a healthcare professional, including, but not limited to doctors, dentists, and mental health specialists. All medical excuses must be on the healthcare professional’s letterhead and it must include the student’s first and last name, the dates to excuse and the reason for the absence. All medical excuses can be emailed or faxed directly to the school, or turned in to the school office. All medical excuses are considered excused absences and DO NOT count toward habitual truancy or excessive absence hours. There is no limit to the number of medical excuses allowed each school year.
Non-Medical Excuses refer to parent notes, or documentation from a government official, college/university, or board approved activity that excuses a student from school.
Unexcused Absences
The following are examples of unexcused late arrivals or absences: oversleeping, missing the bus or a ride to school, car trouble and any other absence not defined as an excused absence in the Board of Education Policy. Unexcused absences or late arrivals without proper documentation will remain unexcused and count toward truancy hours. Unexcused absences or late arrivals without proper documentation will remain unexcused and count toward truancy hours.
Parent/Guardian Excuses
A written or emailed parent note can excuse up to ten (10) absences per school year. The 10 excuse notes can be used for full-day absences, early dismissals and late arrivals. For example, if a parent emails the office saying their child was ill on 4/3, 4/4 and 4/5, this one excuse note would count as three (3) of the 10 parent excused absences. Notes may only excuse absences from the reasons listed in the above Excused Absences section, which directly reflects the Board of Education Policy. Once all 10 parent/guardian excused notes have been used, legitimate documentation, including the exact dates and reason for missing school, must be provided to the school office from a healthcare professional, government official, college, or board approved activity in order for the absence to be excused. A notification will be sent out to let you know when you have used all 10 parent/guardian excuses for the year.
Planned Absences
The Board of Education Policy states that the Board strongly discourages absences from school for vacations or other non-emergency trips out of the district. In agreement with Ohio Administrative Code 3301-69-02, the Board will allow each student ONE planned trip/vacation of up to 30 consecutive hours (5 days) absent from school each year. In order for this time to be excused, a Pre-Authorized Planned Absence Form must be filled out by the parent/guardian PRIOR to the planned absence. All planned absences, such as armed services testing, family trips, non-school sponsored educational activities, or extended college visitations require the completion of this form. Once the form is received, a note of this will be made on the student’s attendance log and reasonable efforts will be made to prepare a list of assignments for the student to do while absent. Up to 30 additional consecutive hours (5 days) may be excused upon written request to the Superintendent/designee through the Pre-Authorized Planned Absence Form. Please note, this additional 30 hours can be added to the first 30, or it can be another separate trip. If this trip is NOT approved, these hours will be marked as UNEXCUSED absences and count toward truancy. No more than 60 consecutive school hours can be excused at any time; however, the Superintendent/designee can make an exception under certain emergency circumstances within the law. If pre-approval is NOT received before the extended absence, parent notes can be used to excuse time missed from school. Keep in mind that each child receives only 10 parent excused absences each school year. Any parent notes used to cover an extended absence will be taken out of the allotted ten. Parent notes CANNOT be used to extend a trip beyond 60 consecutive hours for any reason.
If you have any questions or concerns about the RCS attendance policy, please email our secretary at
[email protected].