As the new school year begins we would like to inform you of the attendance policy at Thomas Starr King Middle School. As parents, you are an important part of you child’s success and future achievement. We encourage you to support your child and his/her future by seeing that your child attends school daily. Education is a partnership between parents and the school.
Students at Thomas Starr King Middle School must attend school everyday and arrive on time to all classes 100% of the time. Absences must be verified.
Students with five or more unverified/unexcused absences in the current school year will be referred to Operation Bright Future (OBF) for 6th grade students or Attendance Counts for Everyone (ACE) for 7th and 8th graders. Regardless of whether an absence is verified, unverified, excused, or unexcused, parents or guardians must always notify the school of a student’s absence.
VERIFIED LEGAL ABSENCE
Students at Thomas Starr King Middle School must attend school everyday and arrive on time to all classes 100% of the time. Absences must be verified.
Students with five or more unverified/unexcused absences in the current school year will be referred to Operation Bright Future (OBF) for 6th grade students or Attendance Counts for Everyone (ACE) for 7th and 8th graders. Regardless of whether an absence is verified, unverified, excused, or unexcused, parents or guardians must always notify the school of a student’s absence.
VERIFIED LEGAL ABSENCE
- Illness absence with a doctor’s note or authorization by school nurse or other authorized school official.
- Exclusion from school supported by written documentation by nurse or other authorized school official.
- Medical appointments; verified by a written note from a doctor.
- Quarantine of the home; verified by the health department.
- Funeral due to the death of a member of the student’s immediate family (1 day, within the state; 3 days, outside the state).
- Absences for justifiable personal reasons, with prior written request and written approval from the principal or authorized school official, such as an appearance in court, attendance at a funeral service, observance of a holiday or ceremony of his or her religion, attendance at a religious retreat, or attendance at an employment conference. Written proof of attendance regarding justifiable personal reasons is needed for verification.
- Any other absence with prior written approval from the principal will be verified.
Absences for babysitting, shopping, visiting relatives, vacations, bad weather and oversleeping are not valid reasons for allowing your child to miss school.TRUANCY
- Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without a valid excuse on three occasions or tardy for more than 30 minutes in a school day on three occasions in one school year, is a truant.
- OBF or ACE will contact the parents of students with five or more unverified/unexcused absences and direct them to attend a General Assembly. If necessary, OBF or ACE will also direct those families to a City Attorney Hearing and the School Attendance Review Board.
- When all efforts to prevent truancy fail, a referral is made to the City Attorney’s Office and parents or guardians may be subject to prosecution for an infraction or misdemeanor.
- Please see Griselda Hernández, PSA Counselor for additional information on compulsory education laws and/or assistance.