GWINNETT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS and BUFORD CITY SCHOOLS Local School ...

GWINNETT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS and

BUFORD CITY SCHOOLS Local School Attendance Protocols

In Response to O.C.G.A. ? 20-2-690.2 and State Board of Education Attendance Rule 160-5-1-.10

With Reference to Mandatory Education Law O.C.G.A. ? 20-2-690.1 No Child Left Behind/Adequate Yearly Progress

Points of reference:

y The State Board of Education's Student Attendance Rule defines "Truant" as "any child subject to

compulsory attendance who during the school calendar year has more than five days of unexcused absences". Compulsory attendance is required for children from their sixth to their sixteenth birthdays.

y The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) attendance requirements for meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)

include both excused and unexcused absences.

y State Attendance Rule 160-5-1-.10 states that students will be excused from school under the

following circumstances, as a minimum. ? Personal illness or attendance in school endangering a students health or the health of others. ? A serious illness or death in a student's immediate family necessitating absence from school. ? A court order or an order by a governmental agency, including pre-induction physical examinations for service in the armed forces, mandating absence from school. ? Observing religious holidays, necessitating absence from school. ? Conditions rending attendance impossible or hazardous to student health or safety. ? A period not to exceed one day is allowed, at the discretion of the local unit of administration, for registering to vote or voting in a public election.

? Students will be counted present when they are serving as pages of the Georgia General Assembly.

y The Gwinnett County Juvenile Court will only hear petitions dealing with "Truant" students - those having

unexcused absences in their records.

y It is imperative that local schools keep accurate data to reflect student's excused and unexcused absences.

y Local schools can employ proven "best practices" to improve student attendance in both categories.

y Parental involvement in the process is vital to improving student attendance since "parents, guardians, or

other persons who have charge of a child" are ultimately responsible for that child's attendance in school.

y It is important for credibility within the community that all local schools operate under the same, consistent

student attendance expectations and protocols.

y School Principals play a pivotal, primary role in improving student attendance by frequently communicating

the expectations to students, parents, and staff.

y Clearly defined and consistently followed responsibilities for all school staff are essential for improving

student attendance.

The following Student Attendance Protocols are designed to address both excused and unexcused absences, although the State Board of Education Student Attendance Rule deals only with Truancy, i.e., unexcused absences.

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GWINNETT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND BUFORD CITY SCHOOLS STUDENT ATTENDANCE PROTOCOLS

Step #1

Schools will develop and implement active, positive student attendance incentive programs to support and encourage good daily student attendance.

Step #2

Principal or his/her designee will send a letter to parents/guardians of all students that emphasizes the importance of good student attendance in reference to high academic achievement and to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements for meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Schools may want to post attendance information and expectations on the school websites. It should be noted that direct Principal participation in this entire process has proven to be the most effective means of promoting positive student attendance.

Step #3

Administrators, teachers, counselors, and parapros will use every opportunity to discuss good school attendance when meeting with parents, i.e., conferences, open houses, newsletters, etc.

Step #4

By September 1 of each school year, Principal or his/her designee will send second letter to the parents/guardians of those students who had 15 or more unexcused absences during the previous school year referencing the importance of good attendance and offering support. These letters should contain information informing parents about NCLB, AYP, and the State Board of Education Student Attendance Rules.

Step #5

Before school begins for the year, teachers will be notified of students in their classes who had 15 or more unexcused absences the previous year so they can provide positive encouragement to these students.

Step #6

Local schools will provide to the parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of each student enrolled in the school a written summary of possible consequences and penalties for failing to comply with compulsory attendance. By September 1 of each school year or within 30 days of a student's enrollment in the school, the parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of each student shall sign a statement indicating receipt of such written statement of possible consequences and penalties. In addition, students age 10 or older by September 1 shall sign a statement indicating receipt of such written statement of possible consequences for non-compliance to the school system's policy. After two reasonable attempts by the school to secure such signature or signatures, the school shall be considered to be in compliance if it sends a copy of the statement via certified mail-return receipt requested to the parent, guardian, or other person who has charge or control of a child or children. These notices to parents will be included as part of the system's Student/Parent Handbook to include signed receipt.

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Step #7

A) Schools should make a concerted effort to alert parents each day a student is absent. B) Designated school staff should contact parents each time a student has an unexcused

absence to inquire about the reason for the absence and offer support and encouragement, as well as to remind student and parent of possible consequences. This contact with parents should be on the day the student returns to school without a valid excuse. C) All contacts should be documented. D) It should be noted that best practices have shown that direct teacher contact with parents in tracking daily absenteeism is an effective intervention in these cases.

Step #8

The school will notify the parent, guardian, or other person having charge or control of the student when such student has 5 unexcused absences. The notice shall outline the penalty and consequences of such absences and that each subsequent absence shall constitute a separate offense. After two reasonable attempts without response to notify the parent, guardian, or person having charge or control of a student of five unexcused days of absence, the school shall send a written notice via certified mail with return receipt requested.

Step #9

The school will notify the parent, guardian, or other person having charge or control of the student when such student has 7 unexcused absences. This notice shall outline the consequences, indicating that if the student continues this pattern of absences and reaches 10 unexcused absences, the school will be required to make a report to the state. At that point, the student will not be eligible to obtain or keep a driver's license, losing driving privileges for one year or until he or she reaches the age of 18.

Step #10

GCPS - Teachers should refer students with 10 to 15 unexcused absences to the School Counselor along with parent contact documentation.

BCS ? Teachers should refer any student with 5 absences, excused or unexcused, to the school counselor. The school will notify the parent, guardian, or other person having charge or control of a student when such student has five unexcused absences in the same manner as described above under Step #8.

Step #11

School Counselors or designees should meet with each student referred in Step #10 and make contact with the parent to offer support and encouragement, as well as remind students and parents of students with unexcused absences of possible consequences in order to improve student attendance.

Step #12

GCPS ? As appropriate based on the reasons known to the school for a student's absences, School Counselors, or an Assistant Principal for Attendance, should refer students to Student Attendance Review Committees (Special SSTs). If available and appropriate, representatives from community social services agencies and/or the courts may be invited to attend these review committees.

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Students referred to Student Attendance Review Committees should have no more than 20 unexcused absences. Step #12 (cont.)

BCS ? School Counselors or designees will refer any student with a total of 8 absences to the School Social Worker.

Step #13

GCPS - Parents are notified of the referral and are invited and encouraged to attend the Student Attendance Review Committee by the School Counselor or Assistant Principal for Attendance. School Social Workers also should be invited to participate as members of the Student Attendance Review Committee since one possible outcome of the committee will be an official School Social Work referral.

All documentation related to parent contacts, grades, discipline problems (if any), IEPs, and other relevant information will be brought to the committee meeting by the School Principal, Counselor or Assistant Principal. The Student Attendance Review Committee will develop a plan of action that appropriately addresses the needs of the student and/or family to assist in improving student attendance. This may include direct services from the school, i.e., tutoring, mentoring, attendance contracts, etc., or referrals to appropriate community social service agencies. This plan also will identify the local school staff that is responsible for student case follow-up. If the student is receiving Special Education services, consideration should be made to include attendance as an objective on the student's IEP.

BCS - The School Social Worker notifies the parent of the referral, assesses needs of the student and/or family, and develops a plan of intervention.

School Social Worker may refer students and parents to Truancy Panels to include representatives from the Gwinnett County Juvenile Court. The required documentation and possible results, as described above in GCPS Step #12 apply as written.

Step #14

School Social Workers (SSW) will follow-up on those students referred from Student Attendance Review Committees to assist students and families in improving student attendance. If these student referrals do not improve attendance, the SSW may file a petition with the Gwinnett County Juvenile Court for violation of the Compulsory School Attendance Law (O.C.G.A.? 20-2-690.1). If appropriate, action also may be taken to hold the parents of these students responsible for violation of the same laws, as well as other laws that may be applicable. If parental responsibility is in question, the School Resource Officer (SRO), or other appropriate law enforcement personnel should be involved at this step to assess the possibility of pursuing legal charges against these parents. If substantial evidence of such violations exists, the SRO, or other law enforcement personnel, should take such necessary and appropriate action as the situation dictates.

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Juvenile Court

Upon referral to the court the Juvenile Court, Intake staff shall review the complaint, as well as any other history with the court involving this family. The Juvenile Court Intake Officer has the following options available:

1) Dismissal, which must be approved by the Judge 2) Informal Adjustment 3) Diversion to a Citizen's Panel 4) A referral to the Department of Family and Children Services if it is

believed the case constitutes "Educational" neglect 5) Solicitor's Office referral 6) Protective order requiring school attendance

The Intake Office shall consider the age of the child, any past history with the school and/or the court with this child and this family; the severity of the behavior; and prior interventions that the school and/or the court had utilized.

Informal Adjustment is the process by where the child admits to the offense and an intake officer assigns consequences. These consequences could consist of any combination of classes, programs either operated by the court, mental health or DFCS.

The Juvenile Court is committed to develop additional programs and commit resources to work collaboratively with others to develop community resources regarding truancy.

Community Diversion Panels consist of citizens who are trained by the Juvenile Court and meet locally with children in their school cluster. As in an Informal Adjustment, this is only suitable for those cases where the child admits to the behavior. The Community Diversion Panels can impose similar consequences to those imposed by an Intake Officer at Informal Adjustment.

In any event, if these options are tried and do not meet with success, or due to the prior history in the case or the severity of the offense, the Intake Officer may decide to file a petition with the court. Additionally, the Intake Officer may refer the case to the police department for possible prosecution of the parents at this stage also. The case will then be put on an arraignment calendar and the child and parents will appear for formal arraignment. Arraignment is being advised of the charges, the child's rights and the possible consequences that could be imposed by the court.

If possible the child will be referred to a Truancy Intervention Project attorney if any are so available.

When the child appears in Juvenile Court and either admits to the charge or is found to be truant the Juvenile Court has the following options:

1) Hold the case open for a period of supervision. 2) Assign the child to probation which will include the general conditions of probation

as well as any special conditions such as programs, classes or treatment that may be appropriate. 3) Impose a suspended sentence (i.e. Such as child will serve x number of days for any future day of unexcused absence). 4) Detention for up to sixty (60) days. 5) Commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

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