Please call or email the attendance office as early as possible if your student is not going to be attending school that day. You may leave a phone message with the student’s full name and grade. Upon your student’s return to campus, a note with a handwritten signature by the guardian will need to be sent with your student to excuse your student’s absence. We do not accept typed emails as notice of an excused absence. 

An excuse note from a guardian must be received within 3 days to excuse an absence. Anything received after 3 days will be processed as a “late note”. Students who have 3 unexcused absences without notes will receive a Court Warning Letter by mail from the Truancy Officer.

Students are required to provide a note from a parent or guardian for each absence within three (3) days from the date of the absence or consecutive absences. Notes received after the 3rd day is a “Late Note” (LN) which is considered unexcused. The attendance code for not receiving a note is (NC) “No Contact”. Notes should have the following:

• Student’s full name and grade
• Date(s) of absence(s)
• Reason for absence(s)-attach a doctor’s note when applicable
• Parent or guardian’s signature with a contact number

A student absent without permission from school or from any class will be considered truant and subject to disciplinary actions, which may also include court action. (CFISD Handbook, HB-9).

Attendance is taken during all 7 class periods. A student arriving up to 10 minutes after the period bell will be considered tardy, after 10 minutes they incur an absence.

Classes begin at 7:20 a.m. Students arriving late (within the first 10 minutes of class) will go directly to their first period and teachers will mark them tardy. Students arriving after 7:30 must sign in at the Vestibule for an “Admit to Class Pass”, this becomes an absence. Without a parent or guardian note, they will incur an unexcused absence.

A note is required requesting your student to leave school during the day; include the time of release, the person picking up the student, the reason and a contact number. The person picking up the student must be listed on the student’s emergency list and is required to come into the school with a picture ID for verification with the receptionist. Please indicate on the note if your junior/senior student drives himself/herself.

If leaving early or arriving late to/from visits to health care professionals, the student shall be excused for temporary absence, provided a note is received and the student commences classes or returns to school on the same day of the appointment. The note should include the date, doctor’s name and phone number.

The District shall excuse students from attending school for the purpose of observing holy days when it is a tenet of their faith that they must be absent form school. Students are required to provide a note from a parent or guardian for each absence within three days or the absence will be counted as unexcused.

A parent of guardian will be notified when their student is absent from school three days or parts of days in a four week period (court warning letter) and is absent for 10 or more days or parts of days in a six-month period (10 day absent letter) when the absences are without parental consent (unexcused absences). Note: NC-No Contact and LN-Late note are unexcused absences.

A student may not receive credit for a class unless he/she had been in attendance for at least 90% of the days the class is offered during the semester. If a student is in attendance for at least 75% but less than 90%, a student can be given credit for a class if the student completes a plan approved by the school principal that provides for the student to meet the requirements of the course. Parents or guardians will be notified by mail after the student’s fifth (5th) absence in a class. (CFISD Handbook, HB-11)

A student shall have the opportunity to earn exemptions from an examination when he or she has a grade of A (90-100) or B (80-89) and has no more than three (3) absences from that course in the semester. (CFISD Handbook, HB 12-13)

• Freshman: 1 exemption per semester
• Sophomores: 2 exemption per semester
• Juniors: 3 exemptions per semester
• Seniors: 4 exemptions-fall semester, and 7 exemptions-spring semester

Classes missed due to the following shall not count against a student’s exemptions:

• School-sponsored field trip (attendance codes: FTI-FTA-FTM-FTX)
• College days-limited to no more than 2 days during student’s junior year and 2 days for student’s senior year, documentation required ( attendance code: CD)

If a student is suspended (out of school) or assigned to a DAEP for any number of days, he or she shall lose eligibility for exemptions during that semester.

Conduct

A student receiving a grade of "U" (Unsatisfactory) for conduct shall lose eligibility for exemptions; however, a student shall not receive a "U" unless the teacher has referred that student to the Assistant Principal's office for misconduct.