owatonna high school Attendance Line
(507) 444-8805
- Attendance Procedures
- Student Responsibilities
- Parent/Guardian Responsibilities
- Excused Absences
- Unexcused Absences
- Tardies
- Policy
Attendance Procedures
- If a student is absent from school in the morning, the parent or guardian is asked to call the high school office between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. The phone number is (507) 444-8805. If a phone call is received, a note from a parent/guardian is not necessary.
- Any student who has been absent for any part of the day is required to report to the high school office when he/she returns to school to acquire an admit slip, which will be shown to his/her teacher.
- If a student has been in school any part of the day, but plans to be absent from school later, the school must be notified by written permission or by a telephone call from the parent prior to the time the student leaves. The student must acquire a Permit to Leave the Building pass from the high school office before leaving the school building. These Permit to Leave the Building passes are NOT delivered to the classroom, instead, student's should stop in the office to pick the pass up before their scheduled leave time.
- If a student becomes ill, he/she must receive permission to go home from the school nurse. The school nurse will contact a parent/guardian and will update the student's attendance. Students who become ill and leave school without permission will be marked truant.
- Absences due to family vacations, college visits, or for an event that is a significant educational opportunity must be arranged prior to the absence in order to be determined excused. Under no circumstances will students be excused for pre-arranged absences occurring on state mandated testing dates. Students are responsible for obtaining the Pre-Arranged Absence form from the website or from the OHS attendance secretary, completing it with all required signatures, and submitting it to the attendance secretary for final approval by administration a minimum of 5 days prior to the absence. Absences not pre-arranged and approved will be designated as unexcused absences.
Illness
One of the goals of health services is to assure a healthy environment. Many students and families are frequently concerned about when students should stay home or attend school. The following information is intended to help with this decision.
- If student has a fever of 100 degrees or more, the student should stay home for 24 hours after the temperature returns to normal (without fever reducing medicine).
- If the student has vomited or had diarrhea, the student should stay home until 24 hours after the last episode.
- If student has any rash that may be disease-related or the cause is unknown, check with the family physician before sending the student to school.
- If student is ill at home, please call the school attendance line daily to report the reason for the absence. It is helpful to report specific symptoms and/or diagnoses.
Attendance on Days of School Activities
- Students are reminded that any unverified or unexcused absence in a day will prevent the student from being eligible to participate in practice or games/performances on that day. Violations of this rule will be referred to the principal's and activities director's office.
- Parents/students will be informed of absences either through the Parent/Student Portal within Infinite Campus or by an automated telephone call or email.
Student Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of each student to do the following:
- Attend all classes on a daily basis.
- Monitor the total number of absences in each course. Report any errors to the teacher of the course.
- Monitor the total number of school authorized absences. When more than three class periods of a specific course are missed during a quarter, the student will inform the teacher of the class of any subsequent school-authorized activities.
- Attend every class considered to be his/her "official" and "current" schedule. Students should continue attendance to a class even if he/she anticipates changing or dropping that class. Until the class is officially dropped and the counselor has provided a new "official" schedule, students are expected to attend each of the classes on their schedule. Failure to do so will constitute an unexcused absence.
- Report, when ill, to the Health Office.
- Follow all check-in and check-out procedures.
- Contact teacher(s) to arrange make-up work.
- Students arriving within 10 minutes of first hour will be marked tardy. Students arriving after 10 minutes will be coded unverified. Student arriving to second, third or fourth hour should be marked tardy that arrive within 5 minutes. Students that arrive after 5 minutes will be coded unverified for second, third and fourth. Any absences that remain unverified (no parent/guardian calls to excuse it) will turn to an unexcused absence the following day.
Parent/Guardian Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of each student's parent/guardian to do the following:
- Ensure the student is attending school.
- Monitor the total number of absences in each course. Have your student report any errors to the teacher of the course.
- Call the Attendance Office prior to a student's absence when a student will be absent. Parent/guardian must call (507) 444-8805 within 24 hours of the student's return to school. Following 24 hours, all absences will stand as unexcused or truant. All students, regardless of age, must have an absence excused by a parent/guardian.
- Schedule appointments before or after school.
- Schedule family vacations during official school breaks and summer vacation.
- Work cooperatively with the school and the student to resolve any attendance problems that may arise.
- Communicate and discuss with the student the High School Attendance Policy.
- Contact the Owatonna High School Health Office ((507) 444-8806 or (507) 444-8826) for assistance if the student has any long-term or chronic health conditions that may result in frequent absences from school.
Excused Absences
To be considered an excused absence, the student’s parent or legal guardian must contact the school and indicate the reason for the student’s absence from school within 24 hours of the absence. If extenuating circumstances exist, please contact the school's administrator.
The following are examples of absences will be considered excused and count towards a student’s excused absences per year.
- College Visits
- Driver's Permit Test/Driver's License Examination
- Illness
- Serious illness in the student’s immediate family
- Funeral
- Family vacation with a pre-arranged absence form completed prior
- Pre-arranged excused absences for student participation in non-school competition and performance activities
The following types of absences are excused, but do not count toward the absence total for attendance procedures.
- Court appearances occasioned by family or personal action. Student/parent must provide paperwork to school to verify court appearance.
- Religious holiday.
- Removal of a student pursuant to a suspension. Suspensions are to be handled as excused absences, and students will be permitted to complete make-up work.
- Funeral-death of an immediate family member
- Medical, dental, or orthodontic treatment, or counseling appointment when doctor’s note is provided or approved by the school nurse.
Consequences of Excused Absences
- Students whose absences are excused are required to make up all assignments missed or to complete alternative assignments as deemed appropriate by the classroom teacher.
- The typical student misses 5-7 days per school year.
- When students reach 5 excused days, families will receive a letter informing them of how many days their student has missed.
- When students reach 10 excused days, families will receive a letter of concern informing them that if their student misses more than 10 days the absences will now be required to be excused by a doctor or the school nurse.
- If a doctor or school nurse excuse is required but not provided, the absence will be considered unexcused.
Unexcused Absences
The following are examples of absences which will not be excused.
- Absences that are in the excused category, but are beyond the student’s 10 days of allowed excused absences per year.
- An absence which was not approved by the parent and/or the school district.
- Any absence in which the parent failed to comply with any reporting requirement of the school district’s attendance procedures.
- Includes days missed for illness where the absence is required to be excused by a doctor or the school nurse and no documentation is provided.
- Student needed at home (i.e. babysitting, etc.).
- Any other absence not included under the excused absence attendance procedures.
Consequences of Unexcused Absences
- After 3 unexcused absences, families will receive a letter informing them of their student’s unexcused absence.
- A letter will be filed with the county under state guidelines indicating the child is considered a “continual truant”.
- A phone call or conference may be arranged with school administration, social worker, or counselor with the parent/guardian and the student.
- Student will be required to serve detention or In-School Suspension.
- After 5 unexcused absences, families will receive a letter informing them of their student’s unexcused absence.
- Families may receive a letter requiring parents/guardians to attend a meeting with the county attorney’s office, representatives from Human Services and the school district. At this meeting a plan for regular attendance will be developed.
- Student will be required to serve detention or In-School Suspension.
- If a student accumulates 7 unexcused absences, the student will be considered “habitually truant”. A letter will be sent to families and a copy sent to Child Protective Services and the county attorney.
- Student will be required to serve detention or In-School Suspension.
- Student may be referred to Truancy Court.
- Absences resulting from official suspension will be handled in accordance with the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act, MN Stat. 121A.40-121A.56.
Tardies
- Students are expected to be in their assigned areas at designated times. Students who arrive to first hour block classes within ten minutes of the start of class will be considered tardy. Students arriving to second, third or fourth block within five minutes of the start of class will be considered tardy. Students arriving to “skinny” or ½ block classes within five minutes of the start of class will be considered tardy.
- Students arriving without a legitimate and confirmed excuse after the ten and twenty minute deadline for skinny and block courses respectively will be coded as unexcused.
Policy
503 Attendance Policy
Owatonna High School expects students and their parent(s)/guardians to take responsibility for knowing and following the Attendance Policy. All students, regardless of age, must have absences excused by the parent(s)/guardian. Students enrolled in an alternative program should leave campus immediately following their last class. Owatonna High School is an open campus; however, students may not leave school in a motorized vehicle during lunch or any other time of the day without pre-approved permission from a parent. Upon 15 consecutive days of absences, a student will be dropped and must re-enroll.