Whether for full days or parts of day(s), the following information about absences applies:
Excused Absences
Excused absences are not viewed as days a student is entitled to take. Excused absences include, but are not limited to personal illness, funeral/memorial, quarantine, or weather or road conditions that make travel dangerous. Students are required to attend at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. The student will be required to make up excessive excused absences.
Unexcused Absences
An unexcused absence is any absence that does not meet the definition of an excused absence (examples: personal business, vacation, traffic, car trouble, etc.).
State Approved Non-Absences
The following absences are considered “State Approved Non-Absences” if the proper documentation is provided by the student and/or parent/guardian within two (2) days of the student’s return to school. A “State Approved Non-Absence” is one for which the District still receives funding and the student is marked in the attendance system with a code that is equivalent to present. Students do not accumulate hours.
State Approved Non-Absences include:
Absences for Religious Holy Days
The District shall excuse students from attending school for the purpose of observing religious holy days when it is a tenet of the faith that the student must be absent from school during such time. The District shall excuse the student for days on which the religious holy days are observed and for one day on which the student must travel to and one day on which the student must travel from the site where the holy days will be observed. A written note with a parent signature must be turned in within 48 hours of a student’s return to school to mark the absence as excused. It is preferable for a family to submit the written note prior to the student’s absence.
Absences for Military Dependents
A student whose parent or legal guardian is an active duty member of the uniformed services and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, shall be granted additional excused absences to visit with the student’s parent or legal guardian relative to such leave or deployment of the parent or guardian. See Policy FEA (LEGAL), §25.087 Texas Education Code for additional information.
Other State Approved Absences
Please see Texas Education Code §25.087 for a complete list of state approved excused absences.
Medical Absences
A student may be excused for a temporary (partial day) absence due to an appointment with health care professionals for either the student or the student’s child if the student begins classes or returns to school on the same day of the appointment/treatment.