Attendance Policy

As a public charter school, Innovations is bound to follow the rules and regulations set forth by the State of Nevada on issues of student attendance. Please note the following Nevada Revised Statute as one such regulation that must be followed.

NRS 392.122  Minimum attendance requirements; school district authorized to exempt medical absences from requirements; notice and opportunity for parent to review absences before credit or promotion is denied; information to parents concerning duty to comply.

      1.  The board of trustees of each school district shall prescribe a minimum number of days that a pupil who is subject to compulsory attendance and enrolled in a school in the district must be in attendance for the pupil to obtain credit or to be promoted to the next higher grade. The board of trustees of a school district may adopt a policy prescribing a minimum number of days that a pupil who is enrolled in kindergarten or first grade in the school district must be in attendance for the pupil to obtain credit or to be promoted to the next higher grade.
      2.  For the purposes of this section, the days on which a pupil is not in attendance because the pupil is absent for up to 10 days within 1 school year with the approval of the teacher or principal of the school pursuant to NRS 392.130, must be credited towards the required days of attendance if the pupil has completed course-work requirements. The teacher or principal of the school may approve the absence of a pupil for deployment activities of the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, as defined in NRS 388F.010. If the board of trustees of a school district has adopted a policy pursuant to subsection 5, the 10-day limitation on absences does not apply to absences that are excused pursuant to that policy.
      3.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, before a pupil is denied credit or promotion to the next higher grade for failure to comply with the attendance requirements prescribed pursuant to subsection 1, the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled, or the principal’s designee shall provide written notice of the intended denial to the parent or legal guardian of the pupil. The notice must include a statement indicating that the pupil and the pupil’s parent or legal guardian may request a review of the absences of the pupil and a statement of the procedure for requesting such a review. Upon the request for a review by the pupil and the pupil’s parent or legal guardian, the principal or the principal’s designee shall review the reason for each absence of the pupil upon which the intended denial of credit or promotion is based. After the review, the principal or the principal’s designee shall credit towards the required days of attendance each day of absence for which:
      (a) There is evidence or a written affirmation by the parent or legal guardian of the pupil that the pupil  
             was physically or mentally unable to attend school on the day of the absence; and
      (b) The pupil has completed course-work requirements.
      4.  A pupil and the pupil’s parent or legal guardian may appeal a decision of a principal or the principal’s designee pursuant to subsection 3 to the board of trustees of the school district in which the pupil is enrolled.
      5.  The board of trustees of a school district may adopt a policy to exempt pupils who are physically or mentally unable to attend school from the limitations on absences set forth in subsection 1. If a board of trustees adopts a policy pursuant to this subsection:
      (a) A pupil who receives an exemption pursuant to this subsection is not exempt from the minimum 
             number of days of attendance prescribed pursuant to subsection 2.
      (b) The days on which a pupil is physically or mentally unable to attend school must be credited 
             towards the required days of attendance if the pupil has completed course-work requirements.
      (c) The procedure for review of absences set forth in subsection 3 does not apply to days on which the pupil is absent because the pupil is physically or mentally unable to attend school.
      6.  A school shall inform the parents or legal guardian of each pupil who is enrolled in the school that the parents or legal guardian and the pupil are required to comply with the provisions governing the attendance and truancy of pupils set forth in NRS 392.040 to 392.160, inclusive, and any other rules concerning attendance and truancy adopted by the board of trustees of the school district.
      (Added to NRS by 1997, 2488; A 1999, 3454; 2003, 1341; 2005, 94, 521; 2009, 2622)

Importance of Attendance

Regular school attendance is essential for a student to make the most of his/her education. Students must be present in the classroom to benefit from the teacher led instruction, activities, and technology enrichment. Absences that include multiple days can be harmful to a child as he/she misses out on daily instruction that leads to building on the learning of topics at different levels over many days of learning. Absences from school can result in a serious disruption of a student’s mastery of instructional materials. We would request that parents help us to avoid unnecessary absences from school for their children. 

In accordance with NRS 392.040 except as otherwise provided by law, each parent, custodial parent, guardian, or other person in the State of Nevada having control or charge of any child between the ages of 7 and 18 years shall send the child to a public school during all the time the public school is in session in the school district in which the child resides unless the child has graduated from high school. NRS 392.040 and 392.160 require students to comply with the provisions governing the attendance and truancy of students. The parent, legal guardian, or other person in the State of Nevada having control or charge of any student is required to send the student to school during all times that the public school is in session. Each student is expected to attend school for the entire day. The Nevada Revised Statutes provide corrective steps and/or sanctions to be taken when a student does not attend school. 

Elementary Absences (Grades K-5)

Elementary students who exceed 20 school days (20) absences during the school year, (10 per semester) may be retained in the current grade and/or receive failing grades for their courses. The absences are considered excessive under NRS 392.122: “The board of trustees of each school district shall prescribe a minimum number of days that a student who is subject to compulsory attendance and enrollment in a school in the district must be in attendance for the student to obtain credit or to be promoted to the next higher grade.”   Pre-arranged absences must be approved by administration and must be less than 10 total non-consecutive school days. All pre-arranged absences for which the makeup work was not completed and submitted as specified by the teacher shall be considered unapproved. Pre-arranged absences must be submitted to the office at least one week prior to the requested start date for the absence. Late submittals do not have to be approved by the teachers.

It is understood there are days when students do miss school with the consent of parents/guardians due to illness. In these situations, the parent/guardian MUST call the school to verify the absence. This must be followed with a written excuse when the student returns. If your child is absent from school, within three (3) days of the occurrence, the lack of a written and submitted excuse for the absence will be considered an unexcused or unverified absence. 

Secondary Absences (Grades 6 – 12)

Secondary students who exceed ten school days (10) unapproved / unexcused absences in any course during the semester may receive a failing semester grade for those courses and the absences are considered excessive under NRS 392.122: “The board of trustees of each school district shall prescribe a minimum number of days that a student who is subject to compulsory attendance and enrollment in a school in the district must be in attendance for the student to obtain credit or to be promoted to the next higher grade.”  

Denial of Credit or Promotion

Before a student is denied credit or promotion to the next higher grade for failure to meet attendance requirements, an administrator will provide written notice to the parents/guardians of the student. The administrator or his/her designee and the parent may review the absences upon which the denial of credit or promotion is based. After the review, the administrator or his/her designee shall determine if credit is warranted towards the required days of attendance each day of absence for which: (a) there is written evidence of affirmation by the parent that the student was physically or mentally unable to attend school on the days of absence and (b) the student has completed the course-work requirements. 

A requested parent conference is to be scheduled by the administrator or his/her designee when the following occurs due to excessive absenteeism:

• A student has been identified for possible retention
• A student may be denied course credit (secondary)
• A student is being recommended for enrollment at an alternative school
• A student is deemed to be habitually truant
• A referral for education neglect is contemplated (elementary)

IICSN may investigate, in cooperation with the parent and student, the cause of absences and determine a course of action on or before the accrual of 10 full-day absences or upon the accrual of one or more unapproved absences.

Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5 of the NRS 392.122, before a student is denied credit or promotion to the next higher grade level for failure to comply with the attendance requirements of the school, the principal of the school is which the student is enrolled, or his/her designee shall provide written notice of the intended denial to the parent/guardian of the student. This notice must include a statement indicating that the student and his/her parent/guardian may request a review of the absences of the student and a statement of the procedure for requesting such a review. Upon the request for review by the student and his/her parent/guardian, the principal or his/her designee shall review the reason for each absence of the student upon which the intended denial of credit or promotion is based.

After the review, the principal or his/her designee shall assign credit towards the required days of attendance each day of absence for which:

• There is evidence or a written affirmation by the parent/guardian of the student that the student was physically or mentally unable to attend school on the day of the absence
• The student has completed course work requirements
• Elementary students may be retained in the current grade if they exceed the limitation of absences allowed for the school year
• Secondary students will receive a denial of credit for any course in which the limitation of absences has been exceeded
• Students in grades 9-12 who fail three or more courses may have to attend credit retrieval classes
• Secondary students will receive written documentation and parents/guardians will be given options for making up deficient credits

An appeal process is available to parents/guardians who wish to debate the denial of credit. The board may adopt a policy to exempt students who are physically or mentally unable to attend school from the limitations or absences set forth. If a board adopts a policy pursuant to this subsection:

• A student who receives an exemption is not exempt from the minimum number of days of attendance prescribed
• The days on which a student is physically or mentally unable to attend school must be credited towards the required days of attendance if the student has completed the related coursework requirements
• The procedure for review of absences set forth does not apply to days on which the students is absent due to his/her physical or mental inability to attend school

A school shall inform the parents/guardians as well as the student of their responsibility to comply with the attendance and truancy laws of the State of Nevada. IICSN will inform its parents of the appeal procedures involved in its attendance/truancy policy. If a parent/guardian believes he/she has extenuating circumstances, issues that may have led to the excessive absences and/or mistakes in record keeping have been made; an appeal may be made to the administration or his/her designee. The final level of appeal is with Innovations’ Governing Board.

Attendance Documentation

Student attendance is documented by the school staff on Infinite Campus. This is a universal reporting system by which the State of Nevada and the Clark County School District pull nightly data concerning the school’s enrollment and attendance. Regulations developed to implement IICSN’s attendance policy fall under the Nevada Education Reform Act of 1997 as a criterion for determining the adequacy of the school’s overall program performance.

• Students are allotted three (3) days after returning from an absence to provide Innovations with written notification from the parent/guardian as to the nature of the absence. Students may not submit written notification. 
• All paperwork regarding absences must be turned in to the office or to the registrar. If an acceptable explanation of the absence is not provided, the absence will be unapproved.
• Any student who has been absent 10 or more full days may be required to submit a note from a medical provider on all subsequent absences for those absences to be approved, except if the majority of the initial 10 absences were pre-arranged.
• Absences that are unapproved/unexcused are truancies.

Approved Absences

• The student is physically or mentally unable to attend school, or the absence is related to the student’s disability. The course work assigned during the absence MUST be completed and submitted for grading.
• The approval of the administrator and/or his/her designee has been given for an unavoidable absence due to an emergency.
• The student is absent due to a required court appearance or religions holiday.
• The student is absent due to disciplinary actions deemed essential by administration.
• The absence has been pre-arranged pursuant to the request of a parent/guardian prior to the absence and does not exceed the ten (10) pre-approved ICSN days per year.

Unapproved Absences

If a student has one or more unapproved absences from the school, a conference may be requested between the student, the counselor, and the parent/guardian.   Three (3) or more consecutive absences will require a written note from a medical provider, or the absence may be unapproved.

An absence is unapproved when:

1. The pre-arranged absence was not requested in writing at least one week in advance of the absence.
2. The absence was not due to the physical or mental inability of the student to attend school, the student’s disability, an emergency, a required court appearance or religious holiday.
3. The absence from class or school was without the written permission from the registrar or administrator.
4. The parent/guardian or person in charge of the student failed to notify the school of the reason the student was physically or mentally unable to attend, or the nature of the emergency, court appearance or religious holiday within three (3) days after the student returned to school.
5. The student failed or refused to attend school when so directed by the parent/guardian or school official.
6. The parent/guardian failed or refused to require the student’s attendance at school.
7. The student failed to turn in makeup work by a predetermined date.
8. Upon the fourth consecutive absence, a note from a medical provider was not submitted to the office.
9. After the ten (10) absences during the school year, a note from a medical provider was not submitted to the office.  

Prearranged Absences

Students that will be absent from school for extended periods of time may follow along with classroom instruction. Teachers will not be required to give ‘pre-arranged’ absent work in advance of a student absence. If a student is absent for an extended period, the students will receive additional time to complete make-up assignments upon his/her return. To be classified as excused, arrangements and the proper paperwork documentation must be completed and filed with the school’s registrar. 

Chronic Absenteeism

Daily attendance in school is a critical component of a child’s educational process. The connection between student attendance and learning is clear; a missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn. The Nevada Department of Education has begun its process of looking at chronic absenteeism and its effect on student learning. Chronic absenteeism is defined as the accumulation of days absent from school for any reason for 10% or more of the child’s enrolled days in school. 

The definition of chronic absenteeism is as follows:

A student is absent if he/she is not physically on school grounds and is not participating in instruction or instruction-related activities at an approved off-grounds location for the school day. Chronically absent students include students who are absent for any reason, regardless of whether absences are excused or unexcused. Students who are absent 10% or more of their enrolled school days are considered chronically absent.

A student at Innovations will count as a student absent if he/she misses 50% or more of the school day. A student will be considered absent when he/she meets this threshold and is not receiving instruction or instruction-related activities. Chronically absent students include students who are absent for any reason (illness, suspension, the need to care for family member, etc.) regardless of whether absences are excused or unexcused. 

To comply with the new regulations by the state to track the chronic absenteeism of students, letters will be sent to identified families of chronically absent students warning of the exact number of days the student has been absent and noting the need to actively ensure students are in regular attendance for the remainder of the school year. If a child has missed the 10% threshold, a meeting with the Registrar will take place to rectify the situation and implement further actions to get on track. Please be responsive to the letters noting that Innovations does have an attendance policy as outlined in our Parent and Student Handbook.

Innovations will provide its families with information and reminders about the importance of attendance as one of the primary absentee prevention strategies. The school will also introduce school-wide incentives to encourage students to strive for perfect or near perfect attendance. 

Innovations has developed an Attendance Monitoring Team to review student attendance and serve as a primary point of contact for students missing school consistently. Notification of benchmarked days of absence are noted for parent convenience in the chart to follow.
 

Truancy

As provided under Nevada law, all children between the ages of 7 and 18 years must attend a school. IICSN’s regulations require that within three (3) days after a child returns to school from an absence, a notice from the parent/guardian must be provided to the school explaining why the child was physically or mentally unable to attend or, if an emergency arose, the nature of the emergency. Failure to do so will result in the absence being declared a truancy.

When a student is absent from school without a valid excuse, did not secure prior permission for the absence, or did not make up the class work for the absence, the absence is considered unexcused. In addition, failure to provide an excuse to the school within three (3) school days will result in an unexcused absence. In accordance with Nevada law, an unexcused absence is deemed to be a truancy issue.

Any student who has been declared truant three (3) or more times within one school year must be declared a HABITUAL truant. Nevada law required that habitual truants be reported to law enforcement. A citation by a law enforcement agency can result in fines of $100 or more; required community service; suspension of a 
child’s driver’s license or future privilege of obtaining a license; referral of the parent to law enforcement; and/or referral of the parent for educational neglect to Child Protective Services. 

Excessive absenteeism and/or truancy could result in the student failing, denial of credit, a referral to an alternative education program, and/or retention in the current grade level. School personnel are willing to work with the parent/guardian to determine the cause of the absence (s) and establish a pattern of regular attendance at school for the child and his/her family.

The school will follow the truancy laws set forth by Nevada and the Clark County School District. The following shared information notes the definition of truancy and the policies deemed necessary to care for these issues.

When a student is absent from school without a valid excuse, does not secure prior permission for the absences, or did not make up the work for the class during the absences, the absence is considered unexcused. In addition, failure to provide an excuse within three (3) school days will result in an unexcused absence and is deemed to be a truancy.

When a student exceeds two (2) unexcused absence (truancies), the student is declared a habitual truant. The school must report these students to the local law enforcement agency to file an education neglect complaint with CPS for elementary students or the issuance of a truancy citation for secondary students. 

Elementary school truancy violations will be referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) for investigation. The possible consequences that may be imposed for secondary violators are as follows:

• First Offense: supervision by a probation officer or warning
• Second Offense: court appearance, 8 – 16 hours of community service at the school of attendance, suspension of the student’s driver’s license for 30 days to 6 months or a delay of 30 days from the date a student can apply for a first-time license and/or a fine of $100
• The consequences for a secondary student who is issued a misdemeanor truancy citation cannot be appealed through the school
• Failure of a parent/guardian to comply with these truancy issues will result in the parent receiving a misdemeanor count against him/her

If a secondary student is deemed a habitual truant or tardy, the school administrator may report the student to an advisory attendance review board, designated by the Board of Trustees. This report shall include the dates of truancy and all actions taken by the school to assist and encourage the student to attend school. The administrator will notify the parent/guardian of this report and request written permission to release the student’s records to the advisory board. If the parent refuses to sign a release of records, the administrator shall report the student to a local law enforcement agency in accordance with NRS 392.142. The school shall provide written notice of the referral to the parent/guardian of the student that must include the name address of the student, explanation of the referral, and a summary of the attendance review process. Per SB 269, students who have three (3) or more unapproved absences may be deemed a habitual truant, issued a truancy citation, and suffer a suspension of their driver’s license for thirty (30) days for the first offense and sixty (60) days for the second offense. Students who do not have a valid driver’s license will not be eligible to apply for a learner’s permit or a driver’s license. Once they become eligible to apply, the 
permit/license will be revoked for thirty (30) days for the first offense and sixty (60) days for the second offense. 

If a habitually truant student is cited a second time for truancy, further disciplinary issues will result in the form of a misdemeanor or citation. The consequences for subsequent citations could be an assignment of additional days of community service, court assigned curfew and/or house arrest; 60 days to 1-year suspension of driving privileges, suspension of work permit and $200 fine. In addition, if the parent/guardian to whom the notice of the habitual truancy has been given fails to prevent the child’s subsequent truancy within that year, the parent/guardian is found guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Habitual truancy, education neglect, and/or subsequent truancy or educational neglect constitutes citations by local law enforcement and a Request for Summons to be filed and served.  A Request for Summons is a written notification for the parent and child to appear in court before a judge to defend and answer questions regarding the truancy issues involving the student and his/her family.  Failure to appear in court and/or comply with the court’s decision will result in further disciplinary actions put forth by the judge up to and including possible jail time.