Student Attendance

State law requires children to attend school each day that instruction is provided. The law applies to children ages 6–19. If you voluntarily enroll your child in prekindergarten or kindergarten before age 6, school attendance laws apply to your child, too. A person who voluntarily enrolls in or attends school after turning 19 is also required to attend for the entire period of the program of instruction.

According to Texas state law and Board policy, a student is required to be in attendance at least 90% of the days school or classes are offered. If a student misses more than 10% or approximately 18 days of school, they must make up class time or they will not earn credit for class or a final grade. If the class is a semester long, the number is reduced to, on average, 8 days of missed school.

All students will be given the opportunity to make up work missed due to all absences. Reasonable time frames for the completion of assignments must be established. Please contact your child’s teacher(s) for more information.

Some examples of absences that count against the 90% attendance law include, but are not limited to:

• Vacations
• Parent/guardian illness note
• Attendance at non-school sponsored events

Activities that do not count against the 90% attendance law include, but are not limited to:

• School field trip
• University Interscholastic League (UIL)
• Observing religious holy days under TEC 25.087. Travel is limited to no more than one day of travel to and one day of travel from the observation site. Church retreats, camps, and missions’ trips, and individual religious rites (Baptisms, Christenings, Bar and bat mitzvahs, etc.) are not holy days.
• Temporarily absent during the school day because of a documented appointment for the student, with a healthcare professional. The professional is licensed, certified or registered by an appropriate agency of the State of Texas. The student begins classes or returns to school the same day of the appointment.
• Appearing at a governmental office to complete paperwork required in connection with the student’s application for US citizenship or taking part in a US naturalization oath ceremony
• Participation in activities related to Child Protection Services or the Juvenile Justice System
• The official standards are described in TEA's Student Attendance Accounting Handbook (SAAH). 19 TAC 129.1025.

The reasons could include the following:

• The parent absence note was not submitted within 3 school days after the students return to school after an illness.

• The student’s absence was due to a reason not considered excused by State guidelines and/or District policy. Please refer to the NYOS Student and Parent handbook for more information.

• The student’s absence may have required a doctor’s note to be excused due to excessive absences resulting in a violation of the 90% Rule. Please refer to the NYOS Student and Parent Handbook for more information.

• You may have called the school to inform them your student would be absent, but if you did not follow up by turning in a doctor or parent note, the absence cannot be excused.

If you still have questions, or you believe there is an error with your child’s attendance record, please contact the campus attendance office or your child’s assistant principal. Use the "Skyward Attendance Guide" button above to learn more about submitting correction requests through Skyward.

 Your child will be counted absent. The campus administrator and/or attendance review committee will make the determination if the sport/activity is excused and if it will count for the 90% Rule.

Parent/Guardian of the student must submit an absence request form in Skyward within 3 days of returning to school. Follow our "Skyward Attendance Guide" using the button at the top of this page.

Please contact your child’s campus and ask to speak to the Registrar

Yes, signing your student out is not an excused note. Parent/Guardian of the student must submit an absence request form in Skyward within 3 days of returning to school. Follow our "Skyward Attendance Guide" using the button at the top of this page.

No, phone calls are not an excused absence. Parent/Guardian of the student must submit an absence request form in Skyward within 3 days of returning to school. Follow our "Skyward Attendance Guide" using the button at the top of this page.

A student absent for five or more consecutive days because of personal illness may be asked to provide a statement from a doctor or health clinic verifying the illness or condition that caused the student’s extended absence from school. Otherwise, the student’s absence may be considered unexcused.

Should the student develop a questionable pattern of absences (5 or more parent notes in a grading period), the principal may require a statement from a doctor or health clinic verifying the illness or condition that caused the student’s absence from school in order to determine whether the absence or absences will be excused or unexcused. The School nurse may serve as a health clinic.

No, please submit an absence request through Skyward each time your child has an appointment even if it is a recurring appointment. The campus needs verification from the medical professional that your child was at the appointment. Follow our "Skyward Attendance Guide" using the button at the top of this page.

Discuss the concern with your child AND verify this information with your child’s teacher. If these steps do not resolve your concern, contact the attendance office at your child’s school. Use the "Skyward Attendance Guide" button above to learn more about submitting correction requests through Skyward.

If your child is not feeling well you can take them to school at the normal arrival time and let the nurse look at your child. If the Nurse believes your child needs to stay home, it would be an excused absence for that day.

A student engages in truant conduct if the student is required to attend school under TEC 25.085, and fails to do so.
If a student fails to attend school without an excuse on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six month period in the same school year and those absences have been verified by the campus as unexcused, the student and/or their parent may be referred to truancy court.

If you receive a letter from your student’s school it is because attendance records reflect that the student has absences without an excuse on three (or more) days or parts of days in a four-week period. This is also when the campus will implement Truancy Prevention Measures for the student. The warning letter AND Truancy prevention measures (TPM) are required by law to assist students and parents and to prevent schools from filing with the court for compulsory attendance.

Truancy prevention measures (TPM) are meaningful interventions implemented by a campus to help identify the cause of a student's unexcused absences and identify actions to address each cause. The TPM's should include ongoing communication with the student and parents regarding the actions to be taken to improve attendance and avoid court filings. TPM's may include but are not limited to: Parent and or Student Conference, Truancy Prevention Class (Online and/or In-Person), Attendance Contracts, Mandatory Student Tutorials, Student Detentions, Attendance Behavioral Improvement Plan, Referral to Administration, Counselor, or Truancy Officer, Saturday School, In-School Suspension, and Home Visits.

When Truancy Prevention Measures fail to solve the attendance problem, referral to a truancy court becomes an option. If a student fails to attend school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year and those absences have been verified by the campus as unexcused, students 12 and older may be referred to the prosecutor of the truancy court of Denton County. At this point the campus may also file a criminal complaint against parents who contribute to the nonattendance of their child, regardless of the age of their child.