Attendance

Our goal is for students to attend school regularly so they can meet their potential as learners and  peers. We want to work with parents/guardians to assure that each student is in compliance with the  laws of the State of Minnesota.

• A student will be marked tardy if they are 10 minutes or more late to school. 
• If a student is 60 minutes late or more, they will be marked as a half day absence (elementary). 
• If a student leaves 60 or more minutes early from school, it  will be marked as half day absence (elementary). 
• Absences are marked unexcused without a valid reason. If your child is absent and you do not report the reason, the school will make reasonable efforts to contact you. However, if you do not  contact the school within 3 days, the absence will be marked as unexcused. 
• If there is a problem with unexcused absences the school will work with you and your child to  implement interventions to improve attendance. However, if your child’s attendance continues to be unexcused, we are obligated to refer to the Washington County Truancy Office.  
• If a student has excessive absences due to illness, school health staff will make efforts to  communicate with you to better understand the illnesses and help you develop a plan to  address any ongoing physical and/or mental health concerns. 

To be considered an excused absence, the student’s parent/legal guardian may be asked to verify, in writing, the reason for the student’s absence from school.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Illness.
• Serious illness in the student’s immediate family.
• A death or funeral in the student’s immediate family or of a close friend or relative.
• Medical, dental or orthodontic treatment, or counseling appointment.
• Court appearances occasioned by family or personal action.
• Religious instruction not to exceed three hours in any week.
• Physical emergency conditions such as fire, flood, storm, etc.
• Official school field trip or other school-sponsored outing.
• Removal of a student pursuant to a suspension. Suspensions are to be handled as excused absences and students will be permitted to complete make-up work.
• Family emergencies.
• Active duty in any military branch of the United States.
• Prearranged family vacations.
• A student’s condition that required ongoing treatment for any health related issue (physical or mental).

Absences lacking a “valid” reason and/or verification from a parent/legal are considered unexcused. Unexcused absences include but are not limited to:

• Car trouble
• Oversleeping
• Shopping
• Working
• Needed at home (i.e. babysitting)
• Missed bus
• Alarm clock didn’t work
• No call or note from parent regarding  absence

Minnesota State law requires that every child between the age of 7 and 18 years of age  shall attend a public or private school and that the parent or guardian is obligated to compel the  attendance of the child.

• Report your child’s absence(s):
  • Call attendance reason to the attendance line of the school, OR 
  • Enter attendance reason into Parent Portal, OR
  • Email attendance staff with reason. 
• After notification of a check in, check out or an automated call regarding an unverified absence, update your child’s attendance.

View District Attendance Policy

Families can now report their child's absence online via Campus Parent Portal. Log in on a computer or download the app from your app store.

You can use the Absence Request tool to submit a request that informs the office in advance when your child is not going to be in school. After the request is processed, Campus creates an attendance record for your student.