GCVA Attendance Policy

COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE

Compulsory attendance of all students between the ages of 6-18 shall be enforced in compliance with the laws of the State of Tennessee. This means that a child must attend school until his/her eighteenth birthday unless he/she has received a diploma or other certificate of completion for high school or is enrolled in a course of instruction leading to a GED. A student’s excessive absence may result in a referral of the student and the student’s parents to the Sheriff and Grainger County Juvenile Courts.

It is the duty of the principal or teachers of every public, private or parochial school to report promptly to the Director of Schools the names of all children who have withdrawn from school, or who have been absent three (3) days without adequate excuse. The director of Schools shall provide written notice to the parent, guardian or other person in Tennessee in parental relation to such children who are unlawfully absent from school. A new notice shall be sent for accumulation of unexcused absences.

Grainger County Schools has a progressive Truancy Intervention Plan, which is a 3-Tiered Plan of Intervention designed to improve student attendance. For more information, see Grainger County School Board Policy 6.20 or call 865-828-3611.

 

ATTENDANCE

GCVA will employ a two-step system for monitoring attendance.

 

First Measure of Attendance

Students are required to “check in” each school day by responding to a daily attendance question posted in a dedicated Google Classroom. This question will be brief and non-subject specific and is designed solely for attendance tracking. Responses will be monitored by administration. Completion of the daily “check-in” will count as part of the attendance grade for that class. If a student experiences issues with internet access, a “call-in” attendance option will be available as an alternative.

 

Second Measure of Attendance

The second measure of attendance will be determined by student engagement in daily assignments. Students should follow the weekly pacing agenda and systematically engage with their daily work and dedicate the necessary time to master all assignments. Teachers will record daily attendance in accordance with the level of engagement and compliance with course work completion; with the submissions of completed daily assignments; and logged activity across various apps connected to Google Classroom.

Attendance Example: If a student submits all assignments for the week (by Friday’s deadline) with assignments completed meeting teacher expectations, and has answered the attendance question for each day, the student will be marked present for the entire week (all five days). If a student submits Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s assignments complete, meeting teacher expectations, the student will be marked present for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and absent on Thursday and Friday (even if they answered the daily attendance question).

Attendance records will be available to students and parents/guardians in the StudentVue and ParentVue app no later than five (5) days after attendance has been recorded.

 

Excused and/or Unexcused Absences

Absences will be classified as excused or unexcused in accordance with the Grainger County Board of Education Attendance Policy. GCVA administrators will be responsible for determining the classification of all absences. However, an excused absence does not exempt students from completing assigned coursework. All missed work must still be completed in its entirety, and the deadline for submission will be determined by the individual classroom teacher.

 

A student who fails to complete the weekly assigned work for each class will be marked absent as half of the attendance requirement has not been met. Attendance will be recorded based on the amount of work completed and submitted. In accordance with the Grainger County Schools Truancy Policy, students will be considered truant if they accumulate:

 

  • Five (5) days of unexcused absences or
  • Ten (10) days of excused absences

 

Students identified as truant will receive written notice of attendance violations and will be given an opportunity to submit corrective documentation within a timeline determined by the administration. If no valid documentation is provided, the student and guardian will be required to attend a virtual or in-person meeting with teachers and administrators. This meeting will focus on determining the best course of action for improving attendance and ensuring coursework completion.

 

During the meeting, teachers will collaborate with students and guardians to review attendance expectations and develop an action plan for completing missed work and moving forward successfully. If truancy violations persist or if the action plan is not followed, the case will be reported to the Director of Schools’ Office, where a progressive truancy intervention plan may be implemented in accordance with the Grainger County Schools Attendance Policy.

 

Consequences of Truancy Overview

5 days of unexcused absence – Notification sent home

10 days of unexcused absences – Reported to Director of Schools Office and Tiered Intervention implemented.

15 days of unexcused absences – driver’s license is revoked, and student progress and circumstances will be reviewed and considered for dismissal or forfeit their eligibility to return the following year. Determination will be at the discretion of the Director of Schools and GCVA administration.