Imagine this: a student is involved in community/extracurricular activities, and goes on several college visits. Then, he/she gets sick and is absent for three days. Now, the Sapphire Student Portal reports that the student has accumulated seven absences by the end of the first quarter.  

So, what counts as one of the 10 excusable absences? 

According to the student handbook, “Students will not be excused from school except in cases of emergency or with a written note from their parent/guardian with the reason for their absence and within 3 days of the absence.”

Absence notes must include the student’s name, ID number, date, days of absence, reason of absence, and the parent or guardian’s signature. 

Excusable reasons for absence are family emergency (explanation of the emergency must be included), illness, quarantine, recovery from an accident, death or serious illness in the family, (funeral – letter from funeral director or church may be requested), authorized school activities, and out-of-school suspensions. 

These excuse notes are important because after 3 days of unlawful absences, a letter will be sent home and the administration will conduct a School Attendance Improvement Conference with the guardian to develop a School Attendance Improvement Plan. After 6 days of unlawful absences, the student would be considered “habitually truant” and a Private Criminal Complaint will be filed with the local magistrate.

After 10 days of absence for any reason, “a student must present an excuse from a licensed practitioner of the healing arts for any additional absence to be considered lawful.” A note from a guardian will no longer be sufficient. 

Besides traditional sick days, there are also other types of absences, including educational trips. Educational trips are absences approved in advance by the principal. These absences could include college or career technical school visitations or any trip that requires a student to complete the “trip form” with their teachers and guardian in advance for pre-approval.

Field trips taken with a school-authorized club or activity do not count as educational trips and therefore do not count towards your total 10 days that are allowed for absences.

After an educational trip or a field trip missed work must be submitted when the student returns to school. For excused absences, students are allotted the same amount of days as they were absent to make up the work that they missed.