By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Local schools are adjusting their attendance policies next semester to comply with a new state law that eliminates excused absences.
The law means parents don’t have to get documentation to justify their child missing classes because all absences are considered the same.
The law does not set a minimum number of absences before a student could be denied promotion or graduation. That decision is left to the local school districts.
For the Pulaski County Special School District, that number is 10 per semester.
If those 10 absences are from one course, the student will not receive credit for that course. But excessive absences will not be a cause for expulsion or dismissal of a student.
Days missed because of in-school or out-of-school suspension won’t count toward the allowable number of days absent. The state law also suggests schools reduce the numberof absences from school by favoring in-school rather than out-of-school suspension.
On top of the additional absences allowed by the state law, PCSSD will grant more for purposes approved by the principal or his designee, such as visiting prospective colleges, to obey a subpoena, to attend an appointment with a government agency or if the student is sent home because of illness.
In Cabot, students can miss nine days in a semester. Parents will be notified when a student misses four days of school.
The rest of the district’s policy is the same as PCSSD’s, with the exception of granting students an additional absence if they went to a doctor and received a note for the visit.
Cabot Superintendent Tony Thurman said in an e-mail, “The change from the previous system of ‘excused’ and ‘unexcused’ absences has not been without a lot of questions and concerns from everyone involved. The law was difficult to develop into a policy that was effective, reasonable and could be understood by parents and students.
“Our board members worked extensively this past summer with the law to make a policy that was as reasonable for students and parents as possible but maintains the priority of students being in attendance.”
Lonoke district students will be allowed eight absences per semester. There is a clause in the district’s policy that allows for students who have “extenuating circumstances” to work it out with the administration.
The Beebe district allows 10 absences per semester and Searcy allows 12.
When students are absent half of the total days a school district allows them to miss, the law says their parents must be notified.
That notification has to be by telephone on the day of the absence or by regular mail sent the next day. A community truancy board, if one exists, must also be notified.
Before a student accrues the maximum number of absences, parents must contact the school or district administration for special arrangements regarding the student’s absences.
If special arrangements are granted, the agreement and its conditions have to be written down and signed by the parents, the student and someone representing the administration.
If a student exceeds the number of absences allowed or violates an agreement, the district or adult education program they are enrolled in must notify the prosecuting attorney and the community truancy board, if it exists.
The student’s parents could be subject to a $500 fine plus court costs and fees.
The law encourages schools to grant additional absences to students who participate in officially sanctioned activities such as the Future Farmers of America, Future Homeowners Association and 4-H program.
The law requires a school district to grant additional absences at the discretion of the superintendent for a student to visit with parents or legal guardians who are members of the uniformed services and have been called to active duty, are on leave from active duty or returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting.
Teenagers involved in the poll workers program for high school students must be granted additional absences while working as an election page or official.
The State Board of Career Education is required to adopt an attendance policy for 16- and 17-year-olds enrolled in an adult education program that requires a minimum attendance of 10 hours per week.
