WRCC Attendance Policy
Rationale for 2023-2024 attendance procedure
WRCC Attendance Policy
Definitions and Understandings
“Tardiness” means arriving to class without a pass verifying that the student was
meeting with an administrator or case manager, or arriving late to school without a
documented excuse.
“Absence” means missing more than half of the scheduled time of any class for any
reason other than school sponsored activities.
“School-sponsored” activities include such things as school trips, school athletic
contests, school activity trips, documented college visitations, school music auditions
and festivals, restorative justice meetings, required testing, student council events, and
other special events advocated or required by approved school activities.
“Documented Absences” would include documented illnesses ( requires a doctor’s
note), a death or other tragic family event, a medical appointment, a court appearance,
or those days associated with a religious holiday not recognized by the school calendar.
Even in cases of documented absences, “participation” aspects of a course may affect
the grade earned and awarded.
Absences considered as “unexcused” would include such things as sleeping late, family
vacations, private or non-school concerts/performances, non-school sponsored
athletics, shopping trips, preparing for non-school sponsored activities, and
undocumented and repeated illnesses.
Suspensions are neither excused nor unexcused, but will result in the loss of all
participation points for that period of time.
Absences based upon a request to participate in a family vacation are strongly
discouraged and should not be contemplated unless other absences are at a minimum
or unless teachers agree that there is an excellent chance that work will be made up
successfully. Students must talk with their teachers to get an understanding of the
coursework they will miss before their departure. It must also be understood by students
and parents that teachers will not be expected to provide advance work assignments to
students who will be missing classes if that work is not yet available for students who
will be in attendance.
Rational
● Attendance is an integral part of the in-depth, experiential learning process at
WRCC and much of the learning cannot be made up or duplicated. Daily
attendance is the expectation for all students, but we do realize there are going to
be times when a student is ill, has an appointment, or commitment that cannot
take place outside the school day.
It is important that students and families understand the importance of building work
readiness skills during the time that students are attending the Windham Regional
Career Center. Part of work readiness is being in class on time each day as these are
some of the most desired skills identified when we survey area employers. If a student
is going to be late or absent the following steps should be taken.
Students are expected to attend and participate in every class in which they are enrolled
at Windham Regional Career Center. Further, the WRCC faculty and administration
believe it is the individual student’s responsibility to get to classes on time. Absenteeism
and tardiness of a few students can impact instruction for all the students that do attend
a given class and do arrive on time. Teachers and administration are committed to
providing essential basic education, as well as the most varied and challenging courses
possible. We believe that students who miss class cannot expect to achieve at the
same level as if they were present, because of that daily participation is incorporated
into the course grade.
“Participation” grades for missed classes are nearly impossible to make up and this
should be a topic of conversation between a student who really must miss some classes
and the teacher of the missed classes. Written work must be made up according to a
schedule agreed to by the student and the teacher. It is the responsibility of the student
to complete missed assignments.
When students take responsibility for making up work they miss during an absence,
teachers will help them depending on the teacher’s availability and the guidelines and
limits in each course syllabus and/or published course requirements.
The school will notify parents/guardians when a student has reached 7
non-school-sponsored absences in a class.
Tardy:
1. The student should let the instructor know as soon as the student is aware that
they are going to be late. This can be done a day or two before if the student has
an appointment or via phone or email in case of an unexpected event. The
student should give the instructor some idea of when to expect them.
2. If a student is tardy due to an appointment the student should bring a note from
the service provider so the tardy is excused.
3. The student should check with the instructor to identify any work that needs to be
made up. The first time a student is tardy the teacher will have a conversation with the student to
attempt to evaluate if there is a way the teacher can support the student in being on
time. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed the teacher will contact the
student’s guidance counselor at WRCC or BUHS and the student’s parent or guardian
to set up a plan to address and resolve the issue.
If a student has been tardy by more than 30 minutes five times without reasonable
explanation (weather, construction, car issues), the career center staff will schedule a
meeting with the student, parent or guardian, guidance counselor, center director, and
other team members. The goal of this meeting is problem-solving and addressing the
situation before being tardy causes learning loss or becomes habitual.
If the student is tardy due to an issue that can be resolved with the support of others
within the students sending district or other service providers those agencies will be
contacted by sending school district personnel.
If the student continues to be tardy the team will continue to meet to attempt to address
the situation with the support of staff from the sending district and the career center.
The student is responsible for making up any missed work. Students will be given
twenty-four hours to make up missed work.
The student’s weekly participation grade will be impacted when a student is tardy.
Absent:
1. The student should let their instructor know if they are going to be absent as
soon as they become aware.
2. The student’s parent or guardian should contact the Windham Regional Career
Center attendance person to let the school know that their student will be absent.
3. Absences for health-related appointments, court, and sending school activities
are excused with either a note or with permission from the sending school.
4. The student should check with the instructor to identify any work that needs to be
made up.
Each time a student is absent (excused or unexcused) it is the responsibility of the
student to complete any missed assignments or for the student to learn missed
concepts. A student’s participation grade is impacted on days that they are absent
because they are not present for group work, class instruction, or experiential learning.
Students will be given a reasonable amount of time to make up any missed work
without consequences that impact their grade on the assigned work. If a student misses
lab time the student and the teacher should work together to ensure the student is able
to make up for any missed learning. If a student is out for an extended period of time
the instructor, student, guardian, and director will develop a plan to address how the
student will build the skills missed due to the absence once the student returns. The
teacher should also check in with the student to try to ascertain if the student needs
support to address barriers to school attendance and work with the sending school
district to establish those supports.
When a student is absent from school or class more than three times in 30 calendar
days or Seven times in a semester the student’s teacher will work with the WRCC
counselor and administrator to schedule a meeting with the student, parent or guardian,
guidance counselor, center director, and other team members. The goal of this meeting
is problem-solving and addressing the situation before being absent causes learning
loss or becomes habitual. If the student is absent due to an issue that can be resolved
with the support of others within the students sending district or other service providers
those agencies will be contacted by sending school personnel.
If the student continues to be absent the team will continue to meet to attempt to
address the situation with the support of staff from the sending district and the career
center. After the first meeting, the student’s counselor or case manager will take the
lead in scheduling meetings. The teacher will be responsible for tracking the student’s
attendance and reporting that and missed assignments to the student’s counselor or
case manager.
A student will be removed from their CTE pathway for absenteeism or tardiness if their
grades would make it impossible for them to reasonably pass the class at the end of the
year. A student that fails their WRCC class first and second quarters will be removed
from the class in order to reduce credit loss. If the student is able to improve their
grades (75%+) and attendance during the second semester they are encouraged to
reapply to the Windham Regional Career Center for the next year.
After-school participation on days students are absent
Students must be present at the beginning of Block 2 and attend their classes the
remainder of the day in order to participate in any school sponsored activity scheduled
that same afternoon or evening. If a student cuts a class on a Friday, he/she may not
participate in any school sponsored activity on a Saturday. If they have an excused
absence on a Friday, they can participate in a school sponsored activity on a Saturday.
Class Cuts
A class cut is a conscious decision to miss more than half a class without an acceptable
excuse. Each class cut will result in:
● A zero for the class (participation and any work done in class). For the purpose of
remaining current in the class, the student should request assigned work and
hand it in for feedback.
When a student cuts a class, teachers will contact a parent by phone or email and send
an office referral. If a student cuts repeatedly, the teacher will work with the WRCC
counselor and administrator to schedule a meeting with the student, their parent or
guardian, the WRCC guidance counselor, the WRCC director, and at least one
representative from the student’s sending school.
Students dropped from courses due to cutting may have their schedules changed and
be required to leave school after their last class or when they have no scheduled class.
Transportation in such cases is the responsibility of the student and family.
Attendance and cuts in Windham Regional Career Center courses will be dealt with by
WRCC staff and administration in accordance with WRCC policies and procedures.
Truancy
We want all students of school age to receive an education as required by Vermont Law
on compulsory attendance. When a child (ages 6-17) is enrolled in school and fails to
attend without sufficient reason, that child can be considered truant under Vermont law
for compulsory attendance. Part of that responsibility is to follow up with phone calls,
letters, and meetings when students are absent and, if truant, to follow the state truancy
laws and send the truant officer to the student’s home.
Sending School Releases or Activities Impacting Career Center Attendance
Students are encouraged to behave in a manner that demonstrates an appropriate
commitment to the workplace and career success. Stated more directly, WRCC is like
work, and students need to be present. To eliminate confusion and provide some
consistency, the following guidelines will be implemented at the WRCC.
When a sending school district has a half-day or early release (other than a school
closing):
● If the sending school provides transportation for the day students are to attend their
career center program
● Students are strongly encouraged to attend even if their sending school does not
provide transportation on a half-day or early release.
● Students should not attend if their sending district has a weather related
cancellation.