Attendance Guidelines and Procedures

• Personal illness,
• Illness or death in the family,
• Exposure to contagious disease,
• Religious holidays,
• Extremely inclement weather,
• School-sponsored/related activities
• Personal illness, illness or death in the family, exposure to contagious disease, religious holidays, extremely inclement weather, or school-sponsored/related activities will be considered legitimate excuses for a student's absence. The parent or legal guardian will provide written notice to the school of the reason for the absence or tardiness.
• Requests for pre-approved excused absences should be made in writing by the parent or legal guardian and should state the reasons for absence and the time of absence. Such requests must be approved in advance by the principal.
• Other verifiable reasons may be deemed excusable at the discretion of the principal. Such requests should be made in writing by the parent or legal guardian and should state the reasons for absence and the time of absence.

Requests for pre-approved excused absences should be made in writing by the parent or legal guardian and should state the reasons for absence and the time of absence. Such requests must be approved in advance by the principal.

Students are expected to attend all classes. The teacher is responsible for taking roll during the first 15 minutes of each class and maintaining an accurate record of student attendance.

Excused absences are for approved reasons and with parent notification.

Excused absences accepted by VBCPS policy include:

• Illness/ Doctor or dental appointment
• Death in the family
• Religious holiday (reference School Board Policy 5-17 and Regulation 5-17.1)
• Extremely inclement weather
• School-sponsored/ related activities
• College visits WITH official college documentation

Unexcused absences or tardy include:

• Overslept (parent/guardian or student)
• Missed bus or ride (a student is required to wait for bus to arrive. Leaving a bus stop to choose to be dropped off is not considered excused)
• Vehicle problem/Traffic
• Childcare, including siblings and family
• Non-pre-arranged trip and pre-arranged trips
• Other reason unacceptable to the administrator, or his/her designee, including
• unspecified family emergencies.
• Non-school sponsored sporting events/related activities
• College visits without official college documentation

All students who arrive late or leave early are required to sign in and out at the Front Security Desk and provide a note of reason in order to be eligible for consideration of an excused absence. Students leaving the campus without following proper procedures will be considered as class cutting (CUT).

Early Release Procedures

For contactless process, early release requests must be done by completing the Early Release Request Form or email to KellamAttendance@vbschools.com and received by the attendance office no later than 7:20 am the morning of and no earlier than 3:30pm the evening before the request. A phone verification will be made prior to approval of release. We do not accept last minute requests to have students released and any extenuating circumstances are to be approved by administration.

Students are required to have an authorized adult sign the student out at the Front Security Desk. We cannot release a student from class prior to the arrival of the authorized adult as they must go through proper release format.

Authorized adults other than parent or custodial guardian must be on the student’s approved pick up list. To add an adult to this list, please call 648-5111, note of request must be submitted along with a phone verification for addition. Authorized adults must be at least 18 years of age and cannot be a student at Kellam High School.

Please note that students arriving to school more than 15 minutes late (after 7:35AM) of a class, they are considered absent from that class or (CAU/CAE) This absence is calculated within the excessive absence policy.

Daily Absence

The parent/guardian must inform the Attendance Office by completing the electronic Kellam Absence Form, by sending an email to KellamAttendance@vbschools.com, of the reason for an absence or tardy either prior to or within two school days of the absence. Upon students return to school, please forward documentation to the Attendance Office. All absences from parents or guardians must have the following information:

• Student’s full name (no nickname and grade level)
• Date of the notification
• Date of attendance issue
• Reason for the absence(s)
• Contact phone numbers of Parent/Guardian
• Parent/Guardian signature
• Notification that covers multiple days must be date specified for proper verification.

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Quarantined Students

• Students who are not ill and are able to participate can access remote asynchronous learning if available
• Students who access remote asynchronous learning will be counted present if work is accessed daily
• For the 2021-22 school year, schools are required to withdraw a student who has not accessed work after 15 consecutive school days of absence (8VAC20-110-130).

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Excessive Absences

The state requires that school take steps to support students who have excessive unexcused absences. VBCPS will take the following actions when a student has accumulated the corresponding number of unexcused absences for the full day. More information can be found on the VBCPS Code of Conduct page.

• After 5 Unexcused Absences: an attendance plan will be developed between school representative/parent/legal guardian and student.
• After 6 Unexcused Absences: an attendance conference will be scheduled and held between a school representative, parent/legal guardian and student.
• After 7 Unexcused Absences: a court referral will be filed against the student or proceedings started against the parent/legal guardian. “Court referral” means filing a compliant to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

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Activity/Testing

All school sponsored activities are marked as ACT. If a student is participating in a school related activity (i.e. class field trip, AP testing, etc) a roster will be submitted to attendance to be updated for that day. Please allow at least 24 hours for attendance to update rosters before addressing concerns.

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Unverified Absences/Truancy

UNV is the code used for absences that are not verified. An accumulation of this code will result in a truancy letter. When a note is not submitted (excused or unexcused) the attendance for that block / day will remain coded UNV. To prevent truancy letters, notes must be turned in to verify the student’s absence. To appeal this marking for a class please contact the teacher of that class. Upon correction the teacher will submit a request for change.

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Advanced Absence Notification Form

This form is accessible for students who are going to be absent for reasons other than those listed under excused absences accepted by VBCPS policy such as vacations, college visits, non-school sponsored sporting events. The request form must be completed at least seven (7) days in advance and submitted to attendance office. Please include official documentation for college visits. Submission of the form is not guaranteed Approval for an excused absence. Approval of this form does not exempt days missed from the excessive absence policy. Students are responsible for classwork.

Students returning from an absence should complete an electronic Kellam Absence Form from their parent/legal guardian within three school days. Questions should be directed to the Attendance Office at 757-648-5105 or email KellamAttendance@vbschools.com.

In accordance with the School Board Regulation 5-17-1, “Students having more than six (6) absences from class (excused or unexcused) within a given semester will receive a failing grade (63/N) for that semester or the actual class grade, whichever is lower.” A parent may request a waiver of the attendance regulation for extenuating circumstances beyond the parent and/or student’s control. A waiver should only be submitted if your student is passing the class for which a waiver is needed. Once a student has reached 7 absences in a class, an Attendance Letter, along with an Attendance Waiver Request Form, will be mailed out alerting the parent/guardian that a waiver is needed for the mentioned class. Any documentation that has already been submitted (i.e. Medical notes, court documents, etc.) are on file and will not need to be resubmitted. Attendance waiver request application for First Semester, should be submitted on or before Jan. 14, 2022, and Second Semester, on or before May 27, 2022, so the results may be reflected on the student’s report card. Please note that School Board Policy requires waiver request to be submitted no later than 10 days after the semester.