Attendance

TEXAS STATE LAW & ATTENDANCE

Texas School Law states that students must be in attendance at least 90% of the time to receive credit for a course.

Students may not miss more than nine (9) days to a first semester course, nine (9) days to a second semester course, or 18 days for a class that is a year long course.  This includes both Excused and Unexcused absences.  The only exceptions to this policy are Health, School Business, College Visit (2 days per year – Juniors and Seniors only) absences.

A student will NOT receive credit for a course if he/she exceeds the number of allowable absences. 

Please be advised that if a student is absent without an excuse for 3 or more days or parts of days in a four-week period, or 10 or more days within a six-month period, the student’s parents and/or the student are to receive an Attendance Warning Notice (AWN). Once a AWN has been issued, only notes from a medical provide will be accepted to excuse the absence. Notes from parents/guardians will no longer be accepted.

For further explanation of attendance, refer to your Student/Parent Handbook.

SUBMITTING AN EXCUSE FOR AN ABSENCE

Notes regarding an excuse for an absence will need to be submitted within three days of the absence(s).

Notes may be submitted by:

• Dropping of the note in person to the Attendance Office
• Faxing the note to (210)397-2819

MEDICAL WAIVER

Students who have been out of school for an extended period of time due to a medical situation may submit their documentation and medical waiver form to the VPO.

Medical waivers are reviewed by a committee and may be approved or not based on the documentation for that individual student.

VERIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT (VOE)

If a student who is under 18 wishes to obtain the TEA Verification of Enrollment and Attendance Form in order to earn a Texas Instructional Driver’s Permit, receive a Texas Driver’s License or renew a Texas Driver’s License, he/she must be in attendance for at least 90% of the days classes are offered. 

To receive the completed form, sign up with the John Jay High School Attendance Office. The attendance secretary will review the student’s attendance to determine if the student qualifies for the VOE Form. If approved, the completed form will be available for pick up the next school day. 

ATTENDANCE & CREDIT

“The 90% Rule”

For Credit:

• Students must attend class for 90 percent of the time it is offered to receive credit or a final grade.
• The 90 percent rule applies to all absences, including excused absences.
• Therefore, students are only allowed a total of 7 absences in the Fall and 10 absences in the Spring in a semester class or 17 absences in a full year class.
   
  • The absences include unexcused absences (UA), excused absences (EA).
• Even if a student passes the course, a student will NOT receive credit for a class is he/she exceeds the number of allowable absences.

Attending Prom:

• As per the John Jay Student Handbook, students planning to attend senior prom must be in good academic standing, which includes a student’s grades, attendance (“90% Rule”), and discipline.

Attendance Recovery (AR):

If a student exceeds the number of absences allowed, students may attend Attendance Recovery (AR).

• AR session will be conducted through tutoring sessions with the teacher the student owes.
• A minimum of a 45-minute tutoring session will equal one hour of recovered time for that class.
• Students will need to communicate with their teachers regarding tutoring times and days in order to attend tutoring for Attendance Recovery purposes.
• Students are required to login and logout at their tutoring/AR session via a Google Form with their teacher.
• All logins and logouts are date/timestamped.
• Students will not be allowed to attend tutoring to “bank” time for AR, as it will be coded as tutoring and not tutoring/AR.

Students can obtain information as to whether they will need to attend tutoring/AR through:

• The Parent Conference Report (PCR)
  • Students may ask their teacher to print it for them
• Callout to parent/guardian on Tuesday evenings
• An email to the students’ NISD email account
• HAC (Home Access Center) 
  • Students & parents/guardians may monitor grades, attendance, missing assignments, & may set triggers to be informed of missed classes and low grades.