QUEEN ANNE’S COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL’S ATTENDANCE POLICY

QACHS ATTENDANCE OFFICE
Mrs. Denise Dean
Attendance Secretary
410-758-0020

The Queen Anne’s County Board of Education student attendance policy is based on the premise that success in school is contingent upon continuous and consistent educational experiences. All students are expected to attend school regularly and to be on time for classes in order to benefit from the instructional program and to develop habits of punctuality, self-discipline, and responsibility.

Standards for School Attendance

• For high school, students will be allowed a combination of five (5) personal (parent) notes and/or parent call-ins per semester. Five (5) or more unlawful absences per semester may result in course failure and loss of credit. This decision must be appealed in writing to the Attendance Review Committee. This committee will be established at each high school and will meet as needed.
• Students receiving special education or have a 504 Plan will be referred to the PST or IEP team to determine possible loss of credit for excessive unlawful absences.
• “Habitual Truancy” may be cause for student withdrawal from school (over age 16). Habitual truants are students who are unlawfully absent from school for a number of days, in excess of 20% of the available time school is in session.

Lawful Absences

Reasons for lawful absences prescribed in Code of Maryland Regulation (COMAR) 13A.08.01.02 include the following:

1. Death in the immediate family
2. Illness of the student. The principal shall require a physician’s certificate from the parent or guardian of a student reported continuously absent for illness. Students will be allowed a combination of five (5) personal (parent) notes and parent call-ins per semester. They are allowed any number of medical notes.
3. Court summons
4. Hazardous weather conditions
5. Work approved or sponsored by the school
6. Observance of a religious holiday
7. State emergency
8. Lack of authorized transportation
9. Other emergency or set of circumstances

Student Trips – 2 weeks prior notice in writing to the school principal is required. Student trips of more than 1 week will be handled on a case by case basis.

A principal may develop a more specific attendance procedure for his/her school based upon the Board of Education policy.

Procedures to Verify Attendance/Tardiness

The parent/guardian should call the school between 7:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on the day of absence to justify a lawful absence or present a written note on the day of the student’s return to school. After 1:00 p.m., high schools begin calling parents of students whose absence has not been verified. Parents may excuse student absences by phone on no more than 5 occasions in combination with personal notes during a semester. Additional call-ins without submitting lawful documentation will be considered unlawful.

Can my child make up work after a lawful absence?

Students are encouraged to make up work for LAWFUL absences. It is the responsibility of the student and the parent(s)/guardian(s) to initiate the request, obtain work from teachers, and return the completed work within the established timeline. An absence, including absence for any portion of the day, for any reason other than those cited as lawful are presumed to be unlawful and may constitute truancy. A truant is a student absent without lawful cause from attendance for a school day of a portion thereof. There shall be no make-up work for students who are unlawfully absent. At the high schools, after 5 days, no unlawful absence can be changed to a lawful absence.