DISTRICT ATTENDANCE TARDY PROCEDURES
SWISD - Elementary Tardy Guidelines
Definitions:
1. A tardy is defined as a student not being in the assigned area at the time set by their designated campus schedule and the teacher is unaware of the student’s whereabouts. (TEC 25.092)
2. Once the class bell rings, students NOT in their assigned area are considered tardy.
Implementation:
1. All campuses will have a class-starting bell.
2. All campuses will track tardies using the District’s electronic grade book and attendance tracking system – GradeSpeed.
3. Tardies will be posted to the GradeSpeed electronic grade book and attendance tracking system by the classroom teacher ONLY.
4. Tardies are NOT part of official attendance accounting. Therefore, campus data clerks and attendance clerks will NOT post upgrades in regards to handwritten tardies posted to classroom rosters.
5. All campuses will ensure that the specific campus tardy consequences are published in the specific campus handbook and/or communicated to
parents/guardians through a separate document at the beginning of the school year for which a parent/guardian signature is required.
Posting:
1. The classroom teacher will post tardies to the District’s electronic grade book and attendance tracking system (GradeSpeed).
2. Elementary campuses and PK-5 will post tardies at the designated time. 3. Elementary schools and PK-5 will post official attendance at 10:00 a.m.
4. The classroom teacher will use the following codes to the GradeSpeed electronic grade book system:
a. T – Tardy b. L – Left early Consequences:
1. 1-2 tardies = student warning
2. 3 tardies = parent phone call by the teacher 3. 4 tardies =
b. Loss of recess for every tardy thereafter during the given nine-week period.
c. Perfect attendance credits/awards for the End of Year Awards Ceremony may be denied.
4. 5 or more tardies for a year =
a. A final warning letter, which could culminate in a court hearing.
b. Perfect attendance credits/awards for the End of Year Awards Ceremony may be denied.
1. Skipping
a. Skipping a class can be prosecuted for truancy for part of a school day under TEC 25.092.
2. Absence:
a. Secondary: An absence is defined as missing a day, or a part of a day or a class.
b. Elementary: An absence is defined as not being physically in school at 10:00 am.
3. A Warning Letter will be sent to each student who accrues 3 or more unexcused days or parts of days in a four-week period. The Warning Letter serves as notification that the student needs to rectify the school’s computer records and not accumulate any more unexcused absences. This one Warning Letter is valid until the end of the school year. After a parent, or person standing in parental relationship to a student receives a Warning Letter from the school, the student must have a doctor’s note, a note from a school nurse, or the Principal’s approval in order to have an absence excused.
4. Students who have recorded 5 or more absences, either excused or unexcused must present a certified health care official’s note, a note from a school nurse, or have a note approved by the campus Principal. A note only from the
parents regarding illness will no longer be accepted, except as approved by the Principal. Without the approval as outlined herein, the student’s absence will be considered unexcused.
5. A student, after being absent, must return with a note excusing the absence(s) within three school days, or the absence excuse will not be accepted. The absence will then stand as unexcused.
6. The visiting teacher will prepare the appropriate papers for filing a case in Justice Court and will file the complaints. The Justice Court will notify the parent of the court date through a summons.
7. In order for a truancy case to be prosecuted in Justice Court, the following guidelines must be met:
a. The student must be absent without excuse three times in a four-week period, and the student must accrue at least one unexcused absence
after the warning letter for a complaint to be filed in the Justice Court, or
b. The student must be absent without excuse ten times in a six-month period at which time the school district shall file a complaint in the Justice Court. This includes days a student does not attend school when transferring from one school to another.
c. The case is filed in the Justice Court on a prescribed complaint form. For other information regarding attendance, see the Visiting Teachers web page on the Southwest Independent School District’s web page, www.swisd.net or call 622-4476.
SWISD - Secondary Tardy Guidelines
1. Definitions:
• A tardy is defined as a student not being in the assigned area at the time set by the designated campus schedule AND the teacher is unaware of the student’s whereabouts. (TEC 25.092)
• Once the bell rings to start class, a student entering his/her assigned area is considered tardy.
• At the secondary level, a student not present within 5 minutes (comes in after first 5 minutes) of the start of classroom instruction is considered absent, not tardy.
• There is no circumstance for which a certain number of tardies will equal an absence.
2. Consequences (applied for each individual class, not cumulative): - 1st Tardy: Verbal warning to student by teacher
- 2nd Tardy: Warning AND parent contact by teacher
- 3rd Tardy: Detention: either lunch OR after school (as decided by campus administrator) AND parent contact by
administrator and teacher
- 4th Tardy: ISS (In-School Suspension) AND parent contact by administrator
- 5th Tardy: Mandatory parent conference, further disciplinary action to be assigned by Administration, and a Warning Letter will be issued and signed by parent at this conference before student is released to regular classes.
- 6th Tardy & Up: Constitutes persistent violation of the Student Code of Conduct and may result in the following, as deemed appropriate by administration:
1. Placement in “In-School Suspension” (ISS) 2. Placement in “Out-of-School Suspension” (OSS)
3. Placement in Saturday School
4. Placement in “District Alternative Education Placement” (DAEP)
All campuses will ensure that the specific campus tardy consequences are published in the campus handbook/agenda or are communicated to parents/guardians as it aligns with SWISD board policy.
All campuses will require teacher of record to track tardies using the District electronic gradebook/tracking system. Tardies will be posted by teacher of record ONLY. In the case of a teacher’s absence, the substitute will follow campus procedures for marking tardies & absences.
Absence Notes
When students return to school following an absence, they must bring a note either from the doctor or written by the legal parent/guardian describing the reason for the absence. The note must be given to the attendance clerk within three school days and should include the date of absence, reason for absence, and parent/guardian signature. On the 4th day after the absence, if no note is brought, the student automatically receives an
unexcused absence. Three or more unexcused absences require the school to file a truancy report with the SWISD Visiting Teachers office. The report may be turned over to the court for further truancy action. It is the parent’s/student’s responsibility to bring the note to the attendance clerk.
Attendance Codes Used by Attendance Clerks
o 1 - Excused Absence (Code to be used when a student has provided appropriate documentation for the absence)
o 2 - Unexcused Absence (Code to be used when a student is absent from school or class and does not provide any proof of documentation for the absence or has exceeded the number of acceptable absences for the year.)
o 3 – Extra-Curricular Activities (Code to be used when a student is absent from class due to school related activities)
o 4 – Tardy (Code to be used to indicate that a student has arrived late to a class as defined in the District Tardy Procedure)
o 5 - Student Mentorship Excused Absence
o 6 - Excused Discipline (Code to be used with students who are absent in ISS, but provide appropriate documentation for the absence)
o 7 - Unexcused Discipline (Code to be used with students who are absent in ISS, and do not have appropriate documentation for the absence or have exceeded the number of acceptable absences for the year)
o 8 - Religious Excused Absence (Code to be used when a student is absent from school due to a religious holiday not observed by the district, proper documentation is required)
o 9 - Medicaid Screening
o H - Homebound Absence – (Code to be used when a student is not present for a homebound visit)
o M - Medical Excused Absence (Code to be used when a student is absent from a portion of the school day for a medical appointment. This code may only be used if a student is checked out of school and returns to school on the same day. Medical Excused Absences cannot be applied for students who are absent an entire day or for students who do not return to school after the appointment time)
o N - Parent Note Excused Absence (Code to be used to indicate that a parent has provided documentation concerning an absence. Parents may provide this type of documentation for up to 5 absences only)
o P - Present
o S - Excused Absence Suspension (Code to be used to indicate that an absence is due to a school suspension)
