KANAWHA COUNTY SCHOOLS
Office of Attendance and Social Services
Attendance The Law And You!
Kanawha County Schools recognizes a direct relationship exists between student’s daily school attendance and academic performance, graduation, and the development of good work habits. Kanawha County Schools will implement a Multi-Tiered System of Support to address attendance and effectively assist students and families. The laws of West Virginia require school administrators to enforce regular attendance of compulsory school-aged students and to provide a safe learning environment through engaging, high-quality instruction to encourage regular attendance.
ABSENCE IS EXCUSABLE FOR SPECIFIC REASONS
West Virginia Code 18-8-1 and West Virginia Board of Education Policy 4110 permit students to be excused from school for:
a.) School-approved or county-approved curricular or extra-curricular activities; failure of the bus to run/hazardous condition, IEP, SAT/504 Plan meetings; and other county board approved excused absences.
b.) Personal illness or injury of the student or student’s parent, guardian or custodian.
c.)Death in the family.
d.) Judicial obligations or court appearance involving the student.
e.) Military requirements for students enlisted or enlisting in the military
f.)Participation in medical homebound or hospital instruction
g. )Documented chronic medical conditions consisting of mental or physical impairments. Documentation by a physician is required and reviewed quarterly by the SAT, IEP or 504 team
A VALID EXCUSE IS REQUIRED WHEN RETURNINGTO SCHOOL
All documentation relating to absences shall be provided to the school not later than three instructional days after the first day the student returns to school. In the event the documentation is not provided to the school within three days, the absences are considered unexcused. Personal injury or illness excuses of student or parent/guardian may not exceed 10 per year. Excuse must include the following information:
- Student’s name
- Grade
- Date(s) of absence
- Date of the note
- Reasons for the absence
- Signature of the parent or guardian
OTHER REASONS CANNOT BE EXCUSED
Any absence not meeting the stated requirements shall be considered an unexcused absence (West Virginia Code 18-8-1). Absences such as hunting, fishing, working in or away from home, babysitting, oversleeping, suspensions, or missing the school bus are unexcused. Questions regarding any of the listed reasons may be answered by a school administrator, the Assistant Attendance Director assigned to your school, or the Attendance Director of Kanawha County Schools.
TARDINESS
Tardiness is defined as any arrival of a student after the time scheduled for classes or school to begin. Student tardiness will be handled according to procedures established by Kanawha County Schools and each school. A brochure outlining these procedures is available.
STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKEUP OF SCHOOL WORK MISSED DURING AN ABSENCE
Students are responsible for work missed during an absence. Each school shall advise students of the procedures and the time line for makeup work as stated in Kanawha County Schools Attendance Policy.
ABSENCE REPORTED TO PARENTS
Absences from school are reported to parents by report cards, telephone calls, letters, or through home visits. Home visits may be made by the county Assistant Attendance Director or other school personnel. The parent/guardian should notify the school when a student is absent.
DRIVING PRIVILEGE
{(C) For the purposes of this section, withdrawal shall be defined as more than ten consecutive or fifteen days total unexcused absences during a single year. For the purposes of this section, suspension or expulsion form school or imprisonment in a jail or a penitentiary is not a circumstance beyond the control of such person.} WV Code 18-8-11
A license or instruction permit to operate a motor vehicle will be denied or revoked from any student younger than eighteen (18) years of age but at least fifteen (15) years of age withdraws from school, is suspended pursuant to W.Va. Code 18A-5-1a and 18A-5-1b and/or fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress, except when the withdrawal or failure to make satisfactory progress is due to circumstances outside the control of the student. This student is subject to losing privileges by virtue of West Virginia Code 18-8-11. A student whose driving privilege has been suspended or revoked must attend school regularly in the subsequent semester before applying for reinstatement of driving privileges. During the subsequent semester, a student must maintain satisfactory attendance (satisfactory being defined as no unexcused absences).
The Kanawha County School System is charged with the responsibility of providing for the intellectual, social, physical, and emotional needs of all students. In order to do this in a manner that reflects equity and consistency, it is imperative that certain policies and procedures be communicated to all parents and students of Kanawha County Schools. The purpose of this document is to share the attendance policies and procedures.
Please give all of unexcused absences notices immediate attention. Continued absence may result in a fine of 50 to 100 dollars for each violation, or possibility of a jail sentence of not less than five nor more than twenty days as prescribed by 18-8-2 of the SCHOOL LAWS OF WEST VIRGINIA. THIS REQUIRES THAT YOU REPORT IN PERSON TO THE SCHOOL WITHIN 5 DAYS. A CONFERENCE SHALL BE HELD WITH THE PRINCIPAL OR OTHER DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SCHOOL IN ORDER TO DISCUSS AND CORRECT THE CIRCUMSTANCES CAUSING THE UNEXCUSED ABSENCES. Every day a student is out of school contrary to the provisions of this article shall constitute a separate offense. Compulsory school attendance begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to September 1 of such year or upon enrolling in a publicly supported kindergarten program and continues to the seventeenth birthday or for as long as the student continues to be enrolled in a school system after the seventeenth birthday.
Kim Legg
Attendance and
Social Services Director (304) 348-1343
DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED
As required by federal law and regulations, the Kanawha County Board of Education does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, disability, age, or national origin in employment and in the administration of any of its education programs and activities. Inquiries may be directed to
Title IX Coordinator, Kanawha County Board of Education, 200 Elizabeth Street, Phone: 348-1379; or
Section 504 Coordinator, Kanawha County Board of Education, 200 Elizabeth Street, Charleston,
WV 25311-2119, Phone: 348-7770, or the U.S. Department of Education, Director of the Office for Civil Rights, Phone: (215) 596-6795.
KANAWHA COUNTY SCHOOLS
200 Elizabeth Street
Charleston, West Virginia 25311-2119
Thomas E. Williams, Jr., Ed.D., Superintendent
KANAWHA COUNTY
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ric Cavender, President
Becky Jordan
Tracy White
Kate White
Jim Crawford, Sr.
\