Attendance

Attendance for all students in Kentucky is calculated based on the actual percentage of time that the student is absent from school. Attendance reports show students as tardy or the actual percentage of the school day that the student is absent. A student is tardy if he or she misses up to sixty minutes of the instructional day by arriving late, leaving early or a combination of the two. When a student misses more than sixty minutes of the instructional day, the entire amount of missed time is recorded as being absent for the percentage of time missed.

Attendance reports show a 'T' recorded for any time that is sixty minutes or less or as a percentage if the time missed is over sixty minutes. For example, if a student is thirty minutes late one morning he or she is counted as being tardy. If, however, the student missed 100 minutes any time during the instructional day he or she is counted as being absent for 25% of the day (100 minutes of a 400 minute instructional day). Students absent for the entire day are shown as being absent 100%. Students are required to sign in on an Entry Log if they are late to school or to sign out of school on an Exit Log if they leave the building during any part of the instructional day. Kentucky law requires elementary students to be signed out by a parent, legal guardian or others as designated in writing by the parent.

An excused absence or tardy is one for which work may be made up. Excused absences or tardies include such circumstances and occasions as a death or severe illness in the student's immediate family, as an illness of the student, as religious holidays and practices, as one day for attendance at the Kentucky State Fair, and as other valid reasons as determined by the principal, including trips qualifying as educational enhancement opportunities and armed forces days granted when immediate family members are being deployed or coming back from deployment.

Excused absences for the purpose of educational enhancement may be granted for up to ten school days a year in order for a student to pursue an opportunity that the local school administrator determines to be of significant educational value, provided that the date(s) requested does not conflict with state or district testing periods. This opportunity may include, but is not limited to, participation in an educational foreign exchange program or an intensive instructional, experimental, or performance program in one of the core curriculum subjects of English, science, mathematics, social studies, foreign language, and the arts. A principal's determination may be appealed to the superintendent/designee whose decision may then be appealed to the Board. A student receiving an excused absence to pursue an educational enhancement opportunity shall be considered present in school during the excused absence. Also, excused armed forces day absences may be granted for students who have an immediate family member being deployed or coming back from deployment. One day can be granted by the school for each of the occurrences. A student receiving an excused armed forces day absence shall be considered present in school during the excused absence.

All students are required by law to attend school every day and to be on time for school and all classes. The district records excused and unexcused absences daily to comply with Kentucky School Law, KRS 159.50, which states, "Any child who has attained the age of six years but has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday, who has been absent without a valid excuse for three or more days, or [who has been] tardy without a valid excuse on three or more days is a truant. Any student enrolled in a public school who has attained the age of eighteen years but has not reached his or her twenty-first birthday, who has been absent from school without a valid excuse for three or more days, or [who has been] tardy on three or more days is a truant." The law defines an habitual truant as "any student who has been reported as truant two or more times."

Kentucky law holds accountable a public school student who has attained the age of eighteen, but who has not reached his or her twenty-first birthday, if the student fails to comply with school truancy laws; holds accountable the parent, guardian, or custodian of a public school student who has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday if the student fails to comply with truancy laws; and holds accountable the court-appointed guardian of a public school student who has been identified as an exceptional child or youth and has not reached his or her twenty-first birthday if the student fails to comply with school attendance laws.

Any parent, guardian, or custodian who fails to comply with the requirements may face fines of $100 for the first offense and $250 for the second offense and may be charged with a Class B misdemeanor for each subsequent offense. Charges of educational neglect and/or unlawful transaction with a minor may also be filed.

When a student is habitually absent, the school clerical and/or administrative staff may:

  • refer the student to the Family Resource/Youth Services Center Coordinators, where available , who will work with the student and his or her family in support of regular attendance.
  • notify the parent/guardian by telephone or in writing of unexcused absence(s).
  • send a letter to the parent/guardian stating that the student is truant after the third unexcused absence.
  • notify the parent/guardian after the sixth unexcused absence.
  • notify the Pupil Personnel Department electronically after the sixth unexcused absence and state any interventions conducted at the local school.

When a student has six or more unexcused absences:

  • an assistant director of Pupil Personnel or a school social worker will visit the home of the student.
  • a final notice may be served in person or sent by certified mail to the parent/guardian.
  • an assistant director of Pupil Personnel or a school social worker may require a parent/guardian conference and/or file an educational neglect report with Child Protective Services.
  • a student may be referred to Family Court by the assistant director of Pupil Personnel and may be subject to legal action if absences continue to accumulate.