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How many days can a child miss school in massachusetts


Absence/Tardy Policy | Oak Middle School

Attendance Policy

“Regular attendance is an essential part of each student’s educational experience, providing opportunities for both intellectual and social growth. Daily attendance, participation in class, and contact with teachers and other students are critical factors in the learning process. The Oak Middle School Attendance Policy recognizes the importance of regular attendance and seeks to support student success.

 

Massachusetts General Laws state that parents/guardians are responsible for their child’s attendance (M.G.L. C 76§2, C 76§4), and that absences may not exceed 7 full-day session or 14 half-day sessions in any 6-month period (M.G.L. C 76§1). A student who is not present for at least half of the day is considered absent (M.G.L. C 72§8).

 

The school recognizes that there are legitimate reasons for being absent from school, i.e., illness, unavoidable medical or dental appointments, funerals, etc.

To the extent that these do not exceed seven days or 14 half-days in a six-month period, absences that fall within these limits will be excused.

Extended illness should be reported to the school nurse and physician documentation may be required, especially when illnesses exceed the seven-day limit.

 

If a student...

  • has five (5) or more consecutive absences due to illness during a trimester, parents must obtain a doctor’s note and submit it to the school.
  • has at least five (5) days in which the student missed two (2) or more unexcused periods in a school year, or has missed five or more unexcused school days in a school year, the school shall notify the parent or guardian of such.
  • has at least five (5) or more unexcused absences, the principal will make a reasonable effort to meet with the student's parent/guardian to develop action steps for student attendance.
  • has ten (10) absences (excused or unexcused) over the course of the school year, a letter of warning will be issued to parents reminding them of the school’s attendance policy, and that an administrator will contact them to schedule a meeting should the absences approach fifteen (15) days.
  • is absent for eight (8) or more days in a trimester, school officials may consider taking any or all of the following actions:
    • Scheduling and holding a parent conference to discuss the school’s attendance policy and to develop a proactive attendance plan;
    • Scheduling and holding an attendance meeting with the parents, administrator and School Resource Officer;
    • Filing a CRA (Child Requiring Assistance) or criminal complaint with the juvenile court, which will result in a hearing held with the juvenile court.
    • Retention in the current grade.

Tardy Policy

  • Any student who arrives to homeroom after 8:00am is considered tardy.
  • Any student who is tardy six times in one trimester will be referred to administration. The student/family will receive a written warning.
  • Any student who is tardy nine times in one trimester will be required to meet with their parent/guardian and the grade level administrator to develop an action plan to address the issue.
  • Tardiness in excess of nine times per trimester will result in disciplinary actions.

What is the difference between excused and unexcused absences?

  • The school recognizes that there are legitimate reasons for being absent from school, i.e., illness, unavoidable medical or dental appointments, funerals, etc.
  • To the extent that these do not exceed seven days or 14 half-days in a six-month period, absences that fall within these limits will be excused.
  • Extended illness should be reported to the school nurse and physician documentation may be required, especially when illnesses exceed the seven-day limit.
  • Religious holidays – We realize that families of many faiths have religious holidays (Eid al-Fitr, Divali, Eastern Orthodox Good Friday, etc.) on days (dates are printed below) that school is in session.  The Shrewsbury School Committee has a formal policy, in accordance with Massachusetts’ law, that provides that students who miss a day of school for a religious observance will have the opportunity to make up the work missed without penalty.   The policy does not require schools to stop providing new information/instruction, however, which would be impractical given the number of days in the year where students could be absent for religious reasons.  In order to alleviate the stress placed on students who must be absent, teachers at Oak have been asked to avoid holding major exams or having major projects due on such religious holidays when school is in session.  Just as when a student is ill, teachers will provide reasonable accommodations to help students catch up.  We are fortunate to have such a diverse group of cultures and religions represented at OMS, and we will continue to do our best to honor these differences as we work together to help all of our students learn at high levels.

Religious Holidays

A complete list of Religious Holidays can be found at the following link.

Religious Holiday Date(s) 2022-2023

Guidance for Massachusetts Schools on Truancy

On April 1, 2021, a new Massachusetts Juvenile Court Standing Order (3-21) (‘the Order’) goes into effect, which details a statewide standardized process for child requiring assistance (‘CRA’) proceedings. The Order provides clarity and processes for how public school districts and public charter schools can address student truancy, particularly in the hybrid and remote learning environment.

The Order allows schools to file an application for assistance for a student that is ‘habitually truant. Per G.L. c. 119, § 21, a CRA is child aged 6-18 who is, in part, habitually truant; meaning the child is ‘willfully’ failing to attend school for more than eight (8) school days in a quarter without a lawful and reasonable excuse from attendance. The Order clarifies that many Massachusetts school districts do not follow a quarterly schedule, but instead divide the school year into semesters or trimesters. In that case, the Order advises that the following would be considered habitually truant:

  • Sixteen (16) missed days per semester.
  • Eleven (11) missed days per trimester.

It’s important to note that the definition of habitually truant was designed for in-person learning only. Therefore, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) requires schools to create specific attendance policies for remote or hybrid learning models. Currently, if a school is filing a CRA for habitual truancy, the school should also provide a copy of its remote or hybrid learning model attendance policy, so that it may be considered by the court when evaluating the request.  Schools will also be required to file the CRA application using a form specifically approved by the Juvenile Court (Form JV-088).

Another key consideration by the court is the child’s ‘willfulness’ in failing to attend school, which is made by judicial inquiry into the circumstances and reasons for the child’s absences.

Schools should also be aware that the court may consider the following factors in a CRA application for habitual truancy:

  1. The number of absences by the student.
  2. The school’s virtual attendance policy, and how students and parents were informed of the policy.
  3. The reason for the student’s absences.
  4. The actions that the school has taken to address the student’s absences.
  5. Whether the school district has a truancy prevention program, and if so, circumstances related to the student and family’s participation in, or disregard of, the program.

A full copy of the Order can be found here.

For more information about a school’s duties and responsibilities in relation to truancy and Massachusetts Juvenile Court Standing Order (3-21), please contact Greg Vanden-Eykel or your Barton Gilman education attorney at 617-654-8200.

About Barton Gilman

Barton Gilman provides the full scope of legal services to education clients – including traditional and non-traditional public schools, charter schools, charter management organizations, private schools, education advocacy organizations and other education-related organizations – throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. For more information, please click here.

How many days can you skip school without a certificate in 2022

Author Ekaterina Novitskaya For reading 7 min Views 56.5k. Posted by

A child may miss school for family reasons or stay at home due to a slight illness. In what cases will he have to receive a certificate from a pediatrician confirming that the student is healthy, and when can he do without it?

Consider how many days you can miss school without a certificate, are absenteeism allowed and what is the threat?

Contents

What has changed in 2021

The allowable number of days of absence from school and kindergarten is regulated by sanitary rules - SanPins. These norms regulate the rules for organizing the educational process and are designed to prevent infectious diseases among students and pupils. For example, how teachers should behave when a child shows signs of illness, what precautions to take, and when the school should request a health certificate for admission to classes.

In 2021, a new SanPin SP 2.4.3648-20 "Sanitary and epidemiological requirements for organizations of education and training, recreation and rehabilitation of children and youth" began to operate. The updated rules will apply until 2027, including 2022.

Allowed number of days to miss school without a certificate

For family reasons

New SanPin 2021 does not contain a direct answer to the question of how long you can not go to school without a certificate from a pediatrician. The Fundamental Law "On Education" also does not regulate the number of days allowed to miss school without visiting a doctor.

But this does not mean that even after one day of absence, the child needs to receive a certificate stating that he is healthy. On the other hand, from SanPin, it does not follow that if you miss classes for family reasons, a certificate from a pediatrician is not needed in principle.

Some educational institutions misunderstand health regulations and have begun to require a certificate for every pass. If your institution has such requirements, ask to see the document on which they are based. If there is no such document, then the claims are unfounded.

Since there is no answer to the question of how much school can be missed in the sanitary rules, parents can be guided by the deadlines contained in the school's local acts. The right of an educational organization to approve its own internal regulations is based on paragraph 3 of Article 28 of the Law on Education. By the way, most schools continue to adhere to the tacit "3 or 5 days" principle of regarding the permitted absence from classes without a certificate.

If the local acts of schools also do not contain an indication of the allowable duration of absences, you can also take into account:

  1. 5 days (excluding holidays and weekends) - it contains a letter of recommendation from the Ministry of Health in 2020, which continues to be valid and in 2022.
  2. "Reasonable Time" from the Civil Code. The principle of reasonableness applies when legislative acts do not provide for specific deadlines.

If a child has been absent from school for longer than expected (for example, more than 5 days), he needs to obtain a certificate of absence of contacts with infectious patients and on the state of health.

due to illness

Clause 2.9.4 of SanPiN SP 2.4.3648-20 clearly states that if the pass was associated with illness or indisposition, then a certificate from the pediatrician will be required in any case, regardless of the number of missed days.

Even if the child missed one day due to a slight illness, the doctor must confirm that the student has no contraindications to attend classes. The medical certificate for the school must state the diagnosis and duration of illness.

For reference. In the fall of 2021, paper certificates from a doctor for schools were canceled in Moscow. Now information about illness, duration and exemptions from physical education and other activities is automatically received from the clinic into the EMIAS.School system and is available to teachers on the day the sick leave opens.

When a school certificate is needed and when not




So, the question of the need to visit a doctor and obtain a certificate before starting school can be resolved as follows:

No certificate is needed Help needed
The child missed classes due to family reasons.

Permissible deadlines for missing without a certificate may contain local acts of the school, or parents can focus on a period of 5 days from the recommendations of the Ministry of Education or on “reasonable terms” from the Civil Code.

If the pass was due to illness, before school you need to go to the clinic and get a certificate from the doctor. Help is needed even if one day is missed due to a slight indisposition.

Can they be expelled from school for missing

A complete list of grounds for excluding a child from school is listed in Article 61 of the Federal Law “On Education”. Among them:

  • parents' initiative, including when transferring to another organization;
  • if the child was enrolled in school illegally;
  • at the initiative of the school in the event of a disciplinary sanction being applied to a student over 15 years old if he cannot master the educational program;
  • due to circumstances that do not depend on the will of the student, his parents and the school itself - for example, if the school is liquidated.

Thus, absenteeism alone is not grounds for expelling a child from school. Especially if the child misses classes for a good reason. But if we are talking about systematic absenteeism (missing without a good reason) and they have become the cause of academic failure, then the child may be expelled. But only on condition that he is over 15 years old.

If the child is regularly missed, additional control may be established to prevent him from lagging behind.

You may be interested in: What are the grounds for expelling a child from school: absenteeism, absenteeism, poor progress, bad behavior?

How to write a school absence report

To prove that there is a good reason for absenteeism, a parent can submit an application stating that the child is expected to be absent from school. The document is drawn up in the name of the school principal or class teacher until missed classes .

The application must state the reason for absence . This may be the general wording “for family reasons” or a specific good reason:

  • participation in sports competitions;
  • undergoing diagnostic examinations or a course of rehabilitation after an illness;
  • weddings, funerals, court hearings;
  • the need to look after relatives;
  • weather conditions.

The application must also include:

  • full name of the parent and student;
  • class in which the child is studying;
  • duration of absence;
  • parent's signature;
  • date of application.

In some schools, applications are asked to be accompanied by an inscription stating that the student is responsible for the life and health of the student and the passage of educational material (based on paragraph 2 of article 63 of the Family Code).

Where and how to complain about the school

If the school has set unreasonable deadlines for submitting certificates (such as requesting a document after a one-day absence) or asking for unnecessary tests (such as taking a coronavirus test before admission to classes), parents can complain to the school.

The complaint is made in free form and can be addressed to the following authorities:

  • management, committee, department of education in the region;
  • local department of Rosobrnadzor;
  • regional division of Rospotrebnadzor.

In a complaint against a school, you should indicate:

  • the name of the authority to which it is transferred;
  • school name;
  • Full name of the parent, his address and contact details for communication;
  • full name of the child;
  • violations committed by the school;
  • requirements for the elimination of violations.
  • The complaint must also contain the date and signature of the complainant.

You can download a sample complaint against a school here.

Summary

  1. The new SanPin 2021 does not regulate the issue of how long you can miss school without a certificate for family reasons.
  2. The school must approve the allowable number of days of absence not due to illness in a local document. If the school does not regulate this issue in any way, you can focus on terms of 5 days or reasonable terms from the Civil Code.
  3. According to current regulations, a certificate from a pediatrician is always needed when you miss classes due to illness, regardless of the number of days of absence.
  4. So that absences are not equated with absenteeism, parents need to write an application addressed to the director or class teacher about upcoming absenteeism.
  5. A child cannot be expelled for missing school for a good reason.

If the school makes inadequate demands on the presentation of certificates, then you can complain about its actions to Rosobrnadzor and Rospotrebnadzor.

How many days can you miss school without a legal certificate in 2020

Published: 09/27/2020

Reading time: 5 min