When arriving late to school, always check in with the Attendance Office.
For a tardy to be excused, a doctor/dentist/professional note is required from appts. For other reasons such as illness, a parent note must be received with an approved excuse.
Missing the bus, alarm clock malfunctions, oversleeping, leaving school materials at home, stopping for food, car problems and other controllable reasons do not constitute an excused tardy. While it is realized that car issues cannot always be helped, policy states that Roanoke County provides buses for students’ transport to school, and should students choose not to use the buses provided by the County, they assume the responsibility for prompt arrival to school.
Sports team members that return to school grounds at 12:00 midnight or later from a school-sponsored event are allowed to check into school by no later than the end of first block, which is 9:55 a.m. on a regular school day. A coach or Admin. can change this rule when necessary and will notify Attendance. Please, however, be aware of changes in school schedules, such as delay or early release days, when determining when a student needs to be in school.
If a student does not arrive in time to attend two (2) blocks, he or she may not be eligible to participate in after-school events, including sports, unless Admin. approval is obtained.
Please note that according to new attendance policy, five (5) unexcused tardies will now constitute one (1) unexcused absence from school.
Please note that if tardies excused by parent notes become excessive, the school will require additional documentation for any given tardy to be excused in accordance with new attendance policies.
Unexcused tardies can be accumulated by a) arriving late to school through Attendance without the proper excused note, or b) arriving late to the first-block class of the day for reasons such as loitering in the hallway.
Please refer to the attendance policy on Infosnap for additional information regarding excessive tardies and absences without parental awareness/documentation or regarding the notification letter process.
Students must check out of school through the Attendance Office before leaving school grounds in order to ensure proper records not only for attendance but for any emergency that may arise.
A parent note containing an approved reason such as a doctor or dentist appt. must be taken to the Attendance Office the morning of the dismissal to ensure teacher notification and dismissal on time. No student will be permitted to leave class without proper documentation or notification from the Attendance/Main Office.
In order for absences occurring from an early dismissal to be excused, a doctor/dentist/professional note is required from appts. For other reasons, a parent note must be received with an approved excuse.
Please be aware that if parent notes excusing absences from classes become excessive, the school will require additional documentation for any given absence to be excused in accordance with new attendance policies.
If a student dismisses before attending two (2) blocks, he or she may not be eligible to participate in after-school events, including sports, unless Admin. approval is obtained.
Students are only released to legal guardians or those listed as emergency contacts (with pick up permission) in the student’s file. Anyone else must be listed in the note and able to provide identification. If any question arises, the student will not be released until a parental verification phone call has been made. Please consider this when completing the emergency sheet on Infosnap at the beginning of the school year.
Calls to the Attendance Office to have students released should be used only under rare and/or extenuating circumstances.
Even students age 18 or above require parental permission to leave school grounds.
Please refer to the attendance policy on Infosnap for additional information regarding excessive tardies and absences without parental awareness/documentation or regarding the notification letter process.
E-mails are accepted as parent notes and can be sent to skidd@rcs.k12.va.us.
School Absences
If a student is going to be absent, please report the absence to Attendance at 562-3900, ext. 21008. This will remove the student from the daily absentee call list reducing the number of calls the school makes and the parent receives.
However, for the absence to be excused, a doctor/dentist/professional note is required from appts. and should be brought to the Attendance Office when the student returns to school. For other reasons, a parent note should be brought to the Attendance Office when the student returns to school. A note must be sent regardless of whether a call was placed to the Attendance Office to report the absence.
For a planned or extended absence (trip, surgery, observance of religious holiday, etc.) to be excused, a note should be sent to the Attendance Office prior to the absence for Admin. approval.
Examples of excused absences with proper documentation include illness, planned/extended absences with Admin. approval, death in family/funeral, school-sponsored activities, the observance of a nationally-recognized religious holiday with prior notice, court appearances or medical appts./procedures.
Please note that if absences excused by parent notes become excessive, the school will require additional documentation for the absence to be excused in accordance with new attendance policies.
Please refer to the attendance policy on Infosnap for additional information regarding excessive tardies and absences without parental awareness/documentation or regarding the notification letter process.
Detentions are issued when students exceed three (3) unexcused tardies per semester. Beginning with the fourth (4th) unexcused tardy, and for every tardy subsequent, one (1) hour of detention is issued.
Students have a two (2) week period to make up the detention time after school every day except for Friday or as approved by Admin. Announcements are made each day regarding detention locations.
After seven (7) unexcused tardies are attained, the student is referred to Admin. for further disciplinary action such as in-school detention or for other discipline deemed necessary by Admin.
Bus Changes
If a student is riding the bus home with another student, a parent note should be taken to the Attendance office so that proper documentation is sent to the appropriate bus driver.
