Student Attendance

WNESU Attendance Procedure - Revised July 2025

As daily school attendance is critical to successful school performance, we want all students and their families in WNESU to have support in ensuring student attendance at school. The process and procedures to ensure that students are in school and learning follows below.

Process and Expectations:

Absences: It is our shared responsibility to be sure that every student is safe and accounted for on every school day. If your student is absent from school, please notify the school within 30 minutes of your school’s start time. Consult your student’s school handbook for specific notification procedures.
Tardiness: Being on time sets a positive tone for the day and emphasizes the importance of education. Students are expected to arrive at school no later than the stated start time for yourtheir school. Students arriving after this time are considered late and will be marked tardy. Tardiness happens from time to time, but regularly coming in late means the student misses the opportunity to be greeted by everyone, eat breakfast, settle into the day, learn the schedule for the day, and generally get off to a positive start. If a trend of tardiness begins to appear, we will ask the parent/guardian to create a plan with the school to ensure that students arrive on time.
Approach: We utilize a team approach for school attendance, including the student, their family, and school officials, to explore with the student and family what obstacles are hindering school attendance. A student-centered plan will be developed to increase school attendance. Follow-up steps are set to assess if the plan is working for the student and the family. Records are kept in the school files of all contacts related to this plan made with the family of the student. Interventions of last resort regarding attendance typically involve the Windham County State’s Attorney and the Department of Children and Families. Involvement of those agencies happens after habitual absences and very low family involvement with the school.

WNESU has modified attendance procedures for all of our schools beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The following guidance is created as part of the administrative rules and procedures outlined in our WNESU Attendance Policy.

WNESU ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES
	6th grade and under	7th grade and above (up to age 16)	Student aged 16 and above
Universal Supports	Daily attendance communication by 9 AM via automated call home to primary caregivers notifying of student absence. If verification is not received by 10:30 AM, emergency contacts may be contacted If a student’s location can’t be verified, a welfare check will be considered by the Building Administration.
5 day cumulative absences	Letter home from Principal School Counselor or designee follow-up with call & documentation on Attendance Intervention Tracker
10 day cumulative absences*	Letter home from Principal School Counselor or designee follow-up with call & documentation on Attendance Intervention Tracker If student is on 504 / IEP case manager notified	Letter home from Principal School Counselor or designee follow-up with call & documentation on Attendance Intervention Tracker If student is on 504 / IEP case manager & Secondary Services Coordinator notified	Any students 16 or older who miss 10 consecutive school days may be unenrolled from Bellows Falls Union High School (not applicable for students enrolled in Special Education services) per state regulation.
* After the 10 day mark, students who are also chronically absent will be have an Attendance Support Conference (ASC)	Invitation to Attendance Support Conference; meeting will happen within 5 Business Days of student meeting chronically absent criteria. If a student is on a 504 or IEP, the case manager should be included in the ASC meeting invitation.	Invitation to Attendance Support Conference; meeting will happen within 5 Business Days of student meeting chronically absent criteria.. If a student is on a 504 or IEP, the case manager & Secondary Services Coordinator should be included on ASC meeting invitation. Social probation review (middle and high school)
15 day cumulative absences*	Letter home from Principal School Counselor or designee follow-up with call & documentation on Attendance Intervention Tracker If student is on a 504 or IEP, the case manager is notified.	Letter home from Principal School Counselor or designee follow-up with call & documentation on Attendance Intervention Tracker If student is on a 504 or IEP, the case manager & Secondary Services Coordinator are notified. Extra-curricular activity probation review Social probation review (middle and high school)
20 day cumulative absences (VT State truancy threshold)	Review Truancy Officer support at appropriate MTSS meeting. Consideration of Truancy Affidavit; review at appropriate MTSS meeting. Consider Educational neglect report to DCF Document additional parent/family action steps on Attendance Intervention Tracker	Review engaging Truancy Officer support at appropriate MTSS meeting. Consideration of Truancy Affidavit; review at appropriate MTSS meeting. Extra-curricular activity probation review (middle and high school) Social probation review (middle and high school) Document additional parent/family action steps on Attendance Intervention Tracker
Additional absences	Student team (led by Building Principal) may consider grade retention in accordance with WNESU policy

Truancy Affidavit & Family Court Involvement:

An affidavit goes to Windham County State’s Attorney detailing

the number of absences, records of outreach between the school and the family, and what supports have already been put in place.
The State’s Attorney will review the materials and determine if they believe the student is a student in Need of Services.
If the State’s Attorney makes this determination, a prosecutor will file a case in the Windham County Family Court to formally intervene with the student’s habitual absences.

This is to ensure that a plan will be followed to remedy the

absences and have your student regularly go back to school.
The Family Court judge evaluates any case filed by the State’s Attorney and determines if conditions need to be imposed on the family related to your student’s attendance. If a case is brought, you will be entitled to an attorney for both you and your student.

Please note: The School is not formally involved with truancy cases brought by the State’s Attorney (meaning that the school is not suing your family). Any truancy cases in Court are brought by the State of Vermont.

Excused Absences

The following absences are considered excused and are not used in determining truancy, social probation and/or retention:

Excused Absences
Name	PS Code	Definition	Examples could include:
Student Activity	SA	Student is participating in an approved school activity	College visit, school sponsored athletic events, tech center field trips
Death in Family	DIF	Student is absent due to a death in the family.
Ill by Doctor	ILD	Student is absent for a medical reason supported by a doctor’s note and is not attending school in an alternate setting.*	Examples could include a planned surgery, recovery, hospitalization or extended illness, etc.
Ill by Family	ILF	Student is absent for an illness or medical procedure that lasts a day or two and the school is notified by their family.	The school may request a doctor’s note or nurse health check to verify illness(es) if a pattern of absences develops. If a doctor’s note isn’t provided or a health check performed, the school reserves the right to code the absence as unexcused. After a student reaches 7 ILF absences, subsequent absences may be coded as unexcused.
Ill by Nurse	ILN	School nurse sends the student home, instructs the family to keep the student home for a period of time and/or has been in communication with the family and believes the reason and length of absence is necessary and reasonable	Student becomes ill at school or comes to school with a fever or condition deemed contagious by the School Nurse/provider on duty.
In School Suspension	ISS	Student is suspended but remains in school.
Out of School Suspension	OSS	Student is suspended from school and out of the building.
Religious Holiday	REL	Student is absent to observe a religious holiday
Temporary Emergency Placement	TEP	Student is placed temporarily in a program or facility (not at home or in the hospital) and is intending on returning to the school when able.	Placement in DCF foster care out of district, student temporarily receiving treatment at Brattleboro Retreat or other facility
Student Not Expected	SNE	Student is not expected to attend school or class due to a modified schedule or reason approved by the school Principal.	Homestudy students attending on partial day, students on a modified schedule as part of their participation in the Alternative Education Program (AEP), other situations determined by building Principal. *SNE code must have administrative approval

Unexcused Absences

The following absences are considered unexcused and are used in determining truancy, social probation and/or retention:

Unexcused Absences
Name	PS Code	Definition	Examples could include:
Absent	A	Student is absent for an unknown, unexcused or unverified reason.	Students are not present for school and notification is not received by parent/guardian; communication has been received but does not meet the threshold for an excused absence as outlined above.
Family Vacation	FV	Student is absent due to a vacation with their family.*	Must obtain permission from the Principal/Building Administration to use code FV. See “Extended Leave and Making Up Work” section for additional information.

Other Attendance-Related Situations

The following attendance-related codes are used and may be used in determining truancy, social probation and/or retention:

Other Attendance-Related Situations
Name	PS Code	Definition	Examples could include:
Dismissed	D	Student leaves school early and prior to the end of the day.
Dismissed Nurse	DN	Student leaves school early due to illness and dismissed by School Nurse.
Tardy Excused	TE	Student arrives to school late	Student arrives to school after start time due to circumstances such as WNESU buses or other district transportation running behind schedule; a medical, dental or other health related appointment *Students will be marked tardy when not present for the start of the day and a note taken by school staff as to what time they arrive.
Tardy Unexcused	TU	Student arrives to school late	Student arrives to school late without documentation.

The following attendance situations are considered excused, used exclusively at BFMS and BFUHS, and are not used in determining truancy, social probation or retention:

Attendance situations used exclusively at BFMS and BFUHS
Name	PS Code	Definition	Examples could include:
With Administration	ADM	Student is with an administrator.	Student is in a meeting with Administration, student is in the main office as directed by a staff member.
School Counseling	SC	Student is with the school counseling staff.	Student is having an appointment with School Counselor or School Clinician.
Junior / Senior Privilege	JP/SP	Junior or Senior student is exempt from school attendance.	Students in good academic and social standing who leave school during approved privilege windows

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