Attendance Policy

Attendance, Absence, Tardy Arrival, Early Departure

attendance email: [email protected]

Regular school attendance is a prerequisite for successful learning. Arriving on time is important to a child’s success and self confidence. While we don’t want children who are ill to attend school, we do want parents to carefully evaluate their children’s “optional” absences for non-health or medical reasons. 

Absences/tardy arrivals in excess of 10* will be reviewed and a conference with parents may be required to create an attendance improvement plan. Continued absences after this conference may result in the retention and/or the child being reported to the public authorities as truant. 

*Under the Compulsory School Attendance guidelines, the State of Wisconsin mandates that no child shall be absent from school for a non-medical, parent-excused absence, for more than 10 days in a school year. If a child has excessive absences due to mental or physical health issues, the school is required to request proof of illness from a doctor or clinic.

Communicating Absences, Tardy Arrivals, Early Departures

• Parents are required to email the BSS attendance email or call the office to report absence, tardy arrival or early departure by 8:30 AM on the day of attendance. 

• Email message must include child/ren’s name and grade, reason for the absence, tardy arrival or early departure.

Check In/Out Procedure

• Students arriving after 8:05 must be signed in/sign in on the attendance clipboard in the office. 

  • Students in Early Childhood and Primary must be signed in by their parent/designee and the parent/designee should walk them to their homeroom.

  • Older students may sign in themselves and report to their homeroom.

• Students leaving during the day for an appointment or leaving for the remainder of the day must be signed out/sign out on the attendance clipboard in the office. 

  • Students in Early Childhood and Primary must be signed out by their parent/designee picking them up. 

  • Older students may sign out themselves and wait in the foyer for their parent/designee to arrive.

• As a safety precaution, students are not allowed to use mobile phones, watches or other personal devices during the school day; they must work through their teacher and/or the office to contact parents. 

• As a safety precaution, children must be picked up from the office (Early Childhood and Primary) or school doors (grade 4 and up). Students are NOT allowed to wait outside the building or to walk to the parking lot for pick-up during school hours.

Attendance Codes

• Present: School begins at 8 am and children who are in their seats by 8 am (and no later than 8:05) are marked “present.”

• Tardy/Partial Day: Children not in their seats at 8:05 are marked absent. The office will change their status to Tardy or Partial Day upon their arrival. If a child has an excused tardy (defined below), arrival prior to 10 am will be counted as a full day at school. Arrivals after 10 am will count as a quarter-day absence. All unexcused tardy arrivals will be recorded as a quarter-day absence.

  • Excused tardy: Includes tardiness due to events physically out of the student's/parent’s control such as a motor vehicle accident, unexpected road closure or traffic backup, severe weather, or for scheduled medical/dental/other health appointments. Parents must communicate this information to the office for the tardy arrival to be excused.

  • Unexcused tardy: All other reasons. 

• Absent: Absences are reported in quarter, half and full days.

  • Excused tardy arrivals prior to 10 am will count as a full day present at school. Arrival between 10 am will be reported as a quarter-day (excused) absence.

  • All unexcused tardy arrivals will be counted as a quarter-day absence.

  • Arrival after 12 pm will count as a half-day absence.

  • Departure from school after 12 pm will count as a half-day absence.

• Absences greater than 10 for non-medical reasons will place the student on probation with consideration for retention (repeating same grade the following year). A meeting with the principal will be required to discuss an attendance improvement plan.

• Absences greater than 10 for medical reasons may result in a request for documentation of illness or health condition from your child’s primary health provider.

Missed Assignments due to absence: 

Students must make up work missed upon their return. Teachers are not obligated to prepare lessons, worksheets, etc. prior to planned absences. Some activities and experiences such as labs, fieldwork, or guest speakers cannot be repeated and the teacher will tell the student his/her expectations for the missed work in these circumstances.

PE Participation:  If a child is at school but is unable to participate in gym class, a note must be sent to the physical education teacher or sent to the attendance email with the request that it be forwarded to the PE teacher.