Lee County Schools

ATTENDANCE POLICY
 

It is the belief of the Lee County Board of Education that regular school attendance is important to all students and to the school system. It is further believed that course content and grading procedures should be structured in such a fashion that regular attendance is necessary in order to successfully complete course requirements.

Subject to parental guidance, each student must be responsible for his/her own attendance. Administrators and teachers will make every effort to encourage regular attendance by students and to solicit assistance from parents/guardians in accomplishing this objective.

Alabama's law requires all children between the ages of six and seventeen to attend school. Administrators and teachers will make reasonable efforts to encourage attendance by students and to inform parents when there are attendance problems. The final responsibility for each student to comply with Alabama attendance laws, however, rests with each student and his/her parents/custodian. Students should make every effort to do the following: to attend all classes daily; to be on time; to provide appropriate documentation for all absences; and to request, complete, and turn in on time all make-up work given for excused absences. Absences should be followed by a written statement of the parent/guardian giving the date(s) and reason(s) for the absence(s). A maximum of 5 days will be excused with a parent's note per semester, after which, for an absence to be excused, there must be a doctor’s excuse. Students have three (3) days to provide this written explanation. Absences are excused as follows: pupil too ill to attend school; inclement weather which would be dangerous to the life or health of the child if he/she attends school; legal quarantine; death in the immediate family; emergency conditions as determined by the superintendent or the principal; and permission from the principal and consent of the parent(s)/custodian. All other absences are unexcused. Repeated unexcused absences or a pattern of absences will not be tolerated and may be considered a violation of the Alabama attendance law.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Notice for Directory Information

Studentprivacy.ed.gov Homepage

 The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that the Lee County Board of Education, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your child’s education records. However, the Lee County Board of Education may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the Lee County Board of Education to the contrary in accordance with the Lee County Board of Education procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the Lee County Board of Education to include information from your child’s education records in certain school publications. Examples include:

• A playbill, showing your student’s role in a drama production;
• The annual yearbook;
• Honor roll or other recognition lists;
• Graduation programs; and
• Sports activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team members.

Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent’s prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to, companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) to provide military recruiters, upon request, with the following information – names, addresses and telephone listings – unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent.

If you do not want the Lee County Board of Education to disclose any or all of the types of information designated below as directory information from your child’s education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the Lee County Board of Education at 2410 Society Road, Opelika, AL 36804, in writing, within 10 school days of the student’s enrollment date. The Lee County Board of Education has designated the following information as directory information:

• Student's name
• Address
• Telephone listing
• Electronic mail address
• Photograph
• Date and place of birth
• Major field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Grade level
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Degrees, honors, and awards received
• The most recent educational agency or institution attended
• Student ID number, user ID, or other unique personal identifier used to communicate in electronic systems but only if the identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records except when used in conjunction with one or more factors that authenticate the user’s identity, such as a PIN, password, or other factor known or possessed only by the authorized user

Lee County Notification of Rights under FERPA for Elementary and Secondary Schools

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) afford parents and students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records. These rights are:

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the school receives a request for access. Parents or eligible students should submit to the School principal [or appropriate school official] a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The School official will decide for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.
2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate. Parents or eligible students may ask the school to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate. They should write the school principal [or appropriate school official], clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate. If the School decides not to amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the School will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing.
3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person employed by the School as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the School Board; a person or company with whom the School has contracted to perform a special task (such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.

A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.

Upon request, the school discloses education records without consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the School District to comply with the requirement of FERPA.

The name of the Office that administers FERPA is: Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202-4605