New Attendance Policy Reminders for All Families

Berkley School District updated its Student Code of Conduct this past summer. The Code of Conduct included updates to the District’s Attendance Policy to reflect the new Board Policy. As students may need to miss school for illness, appointments, etc, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the new policy and what counts as an excused and unexcused absence.

New Attendance Policy Highlights

• The attendance Board Policy and guidelines for notifications were standardized District-wide. 
• Families will receive notifications if students have 5-10 unexcused absences, as well as receive notifications if students accumulate 5 excessive tardy marks per class at the secondary level. 
• The updated Board Policy also states that families must provide their school information on their child’s illness, if a child is absent for more than three days and marked as sick.
• The following situations are considered reasons for an excused absence, per Board Policy 5200: 
  • Illness
  • Recovery from an accident
  • Required court attendance
  • Professional appointments, including college planning visits
  • Death in the immediate family
  • Observation or celebration of a religious holiday
• If a child will be absent for any reason not listed above, that absence is considered not excused. Common absences that are considered not excused include, but are not limited to:
  • Vacation
  • Sports tournaments that are not school related 
  • Celebrating a birthday
  • Rehearsals for performances that are not school related

Attendance Alerts

The District sends out daily attendance notifications to families. For elementary and middle school students, these notifications are sent in the morning to let families know we do not have any absence notice on file. These notifications are sent in the early afternoon for high school families, once school is out. 

Notifications are primarily for student safety - letting families know we have not seen their child during the day, that we haven’t heard from parents/guardians, and to let families know if their child has been marked tardy to class (at the high school level). The District will soon be switching systems for attendance calls, and text messages will come from a new phone number. Once this switch is complete, all families will be notified.