Home of the Mavericks • 701 E. Butler Rd. • Mauldin, SC 29662 • 864-355-6500 • Fax: 864-355-6657

Attendance

Emily Long
Clerk
355-6651

elong@greenville.k12.sc.us

Absence Laws
Early Dismissals
Returning from an Absence
Tardies

Absence Laws

In accordance with the South Carolina School Attendance Law, The School District of Greenville County has adopted uniform rules to assure that students attend school regularly. Each day that students are not in school, they miss hours of valuable instruction and opportunities for learning they will not have again. Students are responsible for tracking their attendance in order to ensure that they receive credit for all of their courses. There is no guarantee of Seat Time Recovery so students should strive to be in each class on time.

Students are counted present only when they are actually in classes at least one-half of the class period, are on homebound instruction, or are present at an activity authorized by the school principal. The official record of attendance in class will be recorded by the teacher.

Because 85 days are the minimum required by state law for a 90-day course, the first five absences may be lawful, unlawful, or a combination.

ALL ABSENCES BEGINNING WITH THE 6TH DAY(90-day courses) or 11th DAY (180-day courses) MUST BE LAWFUL.

Lawful absences are defined as:

NOTE! Doctors’ excuses will not be accepted past the second day of return to school. We do not accept blanket medical excuses. Remember, all excuses must be turned in within two days of return to school.

Prearranged Absences

Many times students know they are going to be out of school because of family trips or other normally unexcused reasons. We will work with students who plan ahead and wish to get their assignments so that they will not miss class work. In order to get a Prearranged Absence, follow this procedure: Five days before the 12 absence have your parent/guardian write a note explaining the reason for being out of school, the date of absence, home and work telephone numbers for us to verify the information, and parent signature. Then, you go to the attendance office and pick up a PREARRANGED ABSENCE form, attach it on top of your note, and take it to all teachers for their signatures. Return the completed form and note to the attendance office for final approval and verification. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR MAKE-UP WORK WITH YOUR TEACHERS, who may require the work missed to be made up either before or after the absence. NOTE: A PREARRANGED ABSENCE STILL COUNTS AS AN UNEXCUSED ABSENCE, BUT IT DOES ALLOW YOU TO MAKE UP WORK AND TESTS.

College Days Prearranged (Juniors and Seniors)

Juniors and Seniors may request up to three college visits each year. Each visit must be to a different institution. In order for a college day to count as a field trip, you must bring a note from your parents at least five days before the college visit and follow the procedure outlined under prearranged absence. In addition, you must bring, on the college letterhead, written proof of your visit to the institution the day you return to school. The attendance clerk will collect and file your proof in the attendance office. If you fail to follow this procedure exactly, your college visit will count as an absence.

The principal will not grant field trip status for the college visit for any class that the student is failing or in which the student has more than ten (10) days of absences.

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Early Dismissals

Bring a written request from your parents giving the reason, time to leave, and parents’ work, home and cell phone numbers to the attendance office before 8:30 a.m. Waiting in line to turn in an Early Dismissal slip will not excuse a tardy if the 8:30 a.m. bell rings. It is best to have your early dismissal occur during class change. (REMEMBER: To be counted present in any class the student must be in the class at least ½ of the class time.)

If you do not bring a note to the attendance office before 8:30 a.m. or if the note you brought cannot be verified, a PARENT must come to the front office and personally sign you out. For the protection of MHS students, NO telephone, fax, or email requests for early dismissal can be honored. Again, all early dismissals must be requested in advance in writing by 8:30 a.m. or by a parent’s visit to the office. No parent walk-in pickups for early dismissals will be issued after 3:00.

**Be sure to pick up the yellow form from the attendance office during the class change before the time of your dismissal. If you return to school later that same day, you must sign back in with the attendance office. Your time on the yellow slip will serve as your admission to enter the class in progress and as your note to cover the classes you missed. Return your yellow form with the appropriate signatures to the attendance office at the end of the day. Early dismissals are unexcused until slips are returned to the attendance office with a doctor’s or other official lawful note attached.

Early dismissals from the Health room are handled as any early dismissal except that you must return slips to the attendance office. Health room dismissals are considered parent notes, not doctor’s notes, and are not excused until the paperwork is turned in to the attendance office.

BE VERY CAREFUL WITH YOUR ABSENCES (EXCUSED AND UNEXCUSED). REMEMBER, THERE ARE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL. A parents’ note for early dismissal or absence is not excused unless it falls under the guidelines for a lawful absence and documentation is provided to the attendance office. Regardless of the reason, parent notes count against the 5 days/10 days of allowable absences for class credit.

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Returning from an Absence

It is the student’s responsibility to present a parent or doctor's note explaining the absence to the attendance clerk and to secure an admission slip. The attendance clerk will decide if the absence counts as excused or unexcused and will indicate this on your admission slip. Have all teachers sign the admission slip. After all signatures are obtained, return the slip to the attendance office. According to School District Policy, a student 13 has two (2) days to bring an excuse. If you fail to turn in the excuse, the absence will be regarded as an unexcused absence. The excuse will be filed in the student’s attendance folder. This two-day (2) limit will be followed consistently. No blanket medical excuses will be accepted.

Forms - Forms – Forms

Summary of forms used and the purpose of each:

If dismissals are for a doctor’s appointment, an official doctor’s note must be attached upon return to receive medical status. Late permits are to be shown to the classroom teacher of each class, whether the entire class or a portion of the class was missed. Slips must be turned in to the attendance office by the student after the teacher signs the appropriate form.

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Tardies

Students will have six minutes between classes to help them manage the hallways, go to lockers, visit restrooms and move from one end of campus to the other. Uninterrupted time on task is vital to the educational process and is one of the major goals at Mauldin High School. Students coming into class late disrupt that process. We expect students to be in class on time.

If a student arrives at school after 9:00 a.m., these steps must be followed:

In order to have an excused tardy to class, a student must present:

When a student does not have such a note, his/her tardy is unexcused. The teachers and administrators will consistently follow a sequence of consequences for tardies.

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