Student Attendance

Regulation

1. GENERAL
   1. Principals shall develop student attendance procedures for their schools which include a process for keeping parents informed of unexcused absences.
      
      
   2. School attendance procedures shall include a process for students or parents to notify the school of student absences.
      
      
   3. Principals shall make students and parents aware of their responsibility for regular and punctual student attendance and of consequences that may result from non-attendance.
      
      
   4. Teachers shall keep accurate attendance records for each of their students.
      
      
   5. The record of a student's attendance shall appear on student progress reports.
2. ENFORCING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
   1. Principals shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that students enrolled in their schools attend school.
      
      
   2. When students do not attend school and are not excused from compulsory attendance, the school principal may apply any or all of the provisions of Section 14 of the School Act.
      
      
   3. Where such attempts to enforce school attendance are not effective the school principal may forward a referral to the Attendance Board accompanied by supporting documentation.
3. INFORMATION
   1. Circumstances under which students are excused from compulsory attendance are outlined in Section 13(5) of the School Act. These include:
      1. sickness or other unavoidable cause,
      2. religious holiday,
      3. suspension from school,
      4. expulsion from school, and
      5. legal exemption from compulsory attendance.

References