DID YOU KNOW?

• Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.

• Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.

• Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.

• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.

• Absences and tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up. Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves.

Start building this habit now so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed in high school and college.

Important Attendance Definitions:

• Tardy - arriving after 9:00 am, But before 10:00am

• ½ day absence if arriving 10:00am-12:30pm

• ½ day absence if leaving 12:30pm-2:59pm

• Early pick up – leaving at 3:00 pm or after

• Unexcused Absences - absent without reasonable justification, or no parental notice given by end of school day.

According to Kansas law (K.S.A. 72-1113) a student is truant if they have missed the following without legitimate excuse:

• Three (3) consecutive days

• Five (5) unexcused absences in a semester

• Seven (7) unexcused absences in a school year

If a student has excessive excused absences (more than 10), a doctor’s note or official documentation will be required for it to be excused.