Attendance

All students between the ages of 6 and 18, who have not completed grade 12, are required to attend school unless otherwise exempted by law. School staff will monitor and report violations of the state compulsory attendance law. Attendance is based on lessons or work completed. Each lesson represents five (5.11) hours of school attendance. A full time student is required to attend (complete) a minimum of 25-30 hours of school per week (according to the number of courses assigned) or 920 hours per school year.  The school’s attendance policy includes but is not limited to the following.

1.      The student will be automatically withdrawn if the student, without legitimate excuse, fails to participate in 105 consecutive hours of learning opportunities offered to the student; and/or

2.      At the end of the thirtieth day after the student has failed to participate as required.

3.      Students are required to meet face to face with teachers/administrators at least two times per year. Time and place will be determined by the school’s director.

 

To track and verify student attendance and participation, the GOVS will adhere to the following procedures. 

 

10 Lessons Behind (Warning Letter from GOVS)

GOVS notifies the parent by letter of the student’s status with incomplete lessons. Parents are asked to contact school officials for a phone or in-person conference in order to remediate the situation.

 

15 Lessons Behind (Warning Letter from the Attendance Officer) 

The Warren County attendance officer will send a warning letter to the student and parent explaining Ohio’s Compulsory Attendance Law and consequences of further incomplete lessons.

 

20 Lessons Behind (Truancy Intervention Meeting) 

The student and parent will be invited to meet with the county attendance officer and a school official for a Truancy Intervention Meeting to be held at the Educational Service Center. Legal responsibilities of the student and parent regarding school attendance/lesson completion will be addressed and intervention provided as needed. Student and parent will be warned of the consequences of court should the student continue to be truant/not complete lessons. If the student/parent do not attend the scheduled intervention meeting (and did not make alternate arrangements with the attendance officer), and if the student is over the twenty-five lesson behind limit, charges may be filed immediately against the student and parent.

 

25 Lessons Behind (Court Charges May Be Filed)

Twenty-five lessons behind is equivalent to twenty-five absences from school. The GOVS recognizes the initial ten lessons behind as “excused absences” for personal health-related reasons. All absences after the ten-day limit are considered unexcused (unless the parent provides doctors’ excuses for days missed). Thus, the next fifteen (15) unexcused absences are considered “chronic truancy” and charges may be filed against the student and parent.

 

Legal References in the Ohio Revised Code

3321.01 Compulsory School Attendance. A child between six and eighteen years of age is of compulsory school age.

2151.02 (D) Chronic Truant. Chronic truant means any child of compulsory school age who is absent without legitimate excuse for seven or more consecutive school days, ten or more school days in one school month (four weeks), or fifteen or more days in a school year. Children who are chronically truant are considered delinquent.

2919.24 Contributing to Unruliness or Delinquency of a Child. No person, including a parent, guardian, or other custodian of a child shall do any of the following: Aid, abet, cause, encourage, or contribute to a child or ward of the juvenile court becoming an unruly or delinquent child.

 

Disclaimer

Nothing in this attendance policy shall prohibit or restrict the school from initiating legal action against a student and parent for failure to complete lessons at any time (within the legal provisions of the law).

 

 

*** If parents/student fails to attend or respond at the appointed time/level, student will be advanced to the next step of the plan if remediation does not occur before the next reporting period (15th of each month) The district will notify the parent in writing that their student is in danger of being excused from the school for nonattendance.

 

The written notifications will be in the native language of the parent.

When a student fails to submit a completed lesson due to illness, doctor’s appointment, emergency etc. on any school day they must submit the completed lesson on the next required day of attendance. If the student is absent one or more days they are granted one extra day for

each day of absence to submit their make-up lessons.