Attendance FAQs

We get a lot of questions about how district attendance policies work!

Here is a link to the district's elementary student handbook (click here for Spanish). Pages 7-8 address the official attendance policies for the district.

 

How do I report an absence?

Please use one of these two ways to report your student's absence or late arrival:

  • 24-hour attendance line - 913-993-2388 
    • Please help us leave our main phone lines open in the mornings by not calling the main number.
    • If you have communicated the absence to the teacher, we still need you to report that information to the attendance office.
  • Online via Skyward

 

Are absences grouped together for an illness or a family trip?

No. Just like if you took off 3 days of work for an illness or trip, missing 3 days of school for any reason counts as 3 absences. A student is allotted 10 excused absences for the year for approved reasons (see district policy). Any absence beyond those 10 will be marked as unexcused, unless a doctor's note is provided for an illness/appointment, or you have pre-approval in writing from the principal for another reason.

If your student has transferred into our building (your family lives outside our Broken Arrow boundaries), please see the district's Transfer Handbook about how absences are counted.

 

Do I need to call the attendance line if my student is just arriving late or leaving early?

Arriving late: If your student will be more than just a few minutes late, then yes please report this on the attendance line or Skyward. Otherwise we don't know where your student is!

Leaving early: It's not necessary; we will call your student to dismiss from the office when you arrive.

 

How are tardies counted?

A tardy is marked when a student arrives between 8:10-8:45 or is picked up early 2:15-3:10. If a student arrives after 8:45 or is picked up before 2:15, it is marked as a half day absence.

10 tardies = 1 unexcused absence

 

What's the difference between an excused absence and an unexcused absence?

An excused absence 

  • is reported to the school office within 48 hours (ideally, absences should be reported by 8:30am)
  • meets the criteria designated in the district handbook

An unexcused absence means either

  • the absence was not reported to the office (and we were unable to get a hold of a parent within 48 hours), or 
  • the student has had greater than 10 absences for the year and no doctor's note was provided to excuse the absence
    • DID YOU KNOW??? You can bring your student to the school for the nurse to excuse an absence. We understand that a doctor/urgent care/ER visit can take a long time and be a big expense. If the only reason you are going is to excuse the school absence, we invite you to save the time and money by visiting the school nurse instead.

 

What does it mean if my student is chronically absent?

A student who has missed more than 10% of school days is considered chronically absent. Studies show chronic absenteeism contributes negatively to academic performance and leads to higher dropout rates. Broken Arrow staff is committed to helping children and families understand from an early age the importance of positive attendance!

 

 

Do you have a question that was not addressed above? You can reach out to our clerical aide at ElizabethRowell@smsd.org.