The following information is also located in the OHS Student Handbook. There have been a large number of students with Tardies, Excused Absences, and Unexcused Absences. We would like to remind everyone what our policy states in hope of improving attendance in terms of tardies and absences. We encourage you to take a look at the information below and encourage your student to be on time and be in class daily. Thank you for your help with this matter.
Tardies
The following procedure will be followed for tardies:
All tardies will be recorded by teachers in Infinite Campus.
Upon the 4th and then every 4th tardy in one class, the student will receive a lunch detention.
Failure to serve lunch detention within 5 days will result in Saturday School.
Failure to serve Saturday School will result in an in-school suspension.
Students missing more than 20 minutes of class will be marked absent.
Excused vs Unexcused Absences
The school has the authority to determine whether an absence is excused or not. If an absence is not pre-arranged, the school expects the parent or guardian to contact the attendance clerk at 269-694-6780 by 10:00 a.m. to report the absence. Failure to provide information to the school office within 24 hours will result in the absence being classified as unexcused.
Absences will be excused if they meet the following guidelines:
Illness or medical appointment (with supporting documentation)
Death in the family
Medical emergency in the family
Important personal or family business that could not be done after school hours (with supporting documentation)
Pre-arranged absences requested at least two school days prior to the absence and approved by the school
Maximum Days Absent (to earn credit for classes)
OHS allows students to be absent from class for 10 days per trimester without consequence to their grades. (Please see truancy policy for more information regarding unexcused absences.) Students who accumulate more than 10 absences in a class in a trimester may put their credits in jeopardy.
The student may earn credit if:
The absences are excused
The student has satisfactorily made up missing work, and
The student has earned a passing grade in the class.
If the student has unexcused absences, credit may be earned if:
The student has attended Saturday School for the unexcused absences, and
The student has satisfactorily made up missing work, and
The student has earned a passing grade in the class.
It is the responsibility of the student and parent/guardians to remain aware of the individual attendance records and to promptly communicate reasons for absences to the school office to avoid unexcused absences.
Truancy (calculated by total unexcused absences for the year)
Once a student accumulates 5 unexcused absences, a truancy warning letter will be issued.
At 7 unexcused absences, the assistant principal will contact the family to set up a meeting to discuss a plan to improve attendance.
At 10 unexcused absences, the student will receive a truancy referral to the Allegan County Truancy Officer.
