Student Attendance

Calling Your Student Off

A parent/guardian must call the school for every absence. Calls are preferred the day of absence, but late notice may be accepted up to 1 school day after the absence. Students who call themselves off will not be accepted. Leave a message on the 24-hour bilingual attendance line. Each building's attendance line is at the bottom of this page.

If a call is not received, the absence will be considered a truancy. 

Leaving School Early & Late Arrivals

Students who enter/exit the building outside of their schedule must have a parent/guardian call. 

Students who arrive late to 1st hour may be held in the cafeteria. Students who arrive 2^nd hour or later must enter through the main entrance and then sign in at the attendance office or designated office of their building. 

Students who leave early must sign out of the attendance office, and then exit the building through the main entrance. 

Students who walk out of the building without parent/guardian permission and without signing out will be referred to the Dean’s Office.

A 24-hour bilingual voicemail is available at the following numbers:

CAT 708-585-9401

CAL 708-585-9401

SOUTH 708-585-2040

NORTH 708-585-1007

Illinois Compulsory School Attendance

This policy applies to individuals who have custody or control of a child: (a) between the ages of six (on or before September 1) and 17 years of age (unless the child has graduated from high school), or (b) who is enrolled in any of grades, 9 through 12, in the public school regardless of age. Subject to specific requirements in state law, the following children are not required to attend public school: (1) any child attending a private school (including a home school) or parochial school, (2) any child who is physically or mentally unable to attend school (including a pregnant student suffering medical complications as certified by her physician), (3) any child lawfully and necessarily employed, (4) any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in confirmation classes, (5) any child absent because his or her religion forbids secular activity on a particular day, and (6) any child 16 years of age or older who is employed and is enrolled in a graduation incentives program. The parent/guardian of a student who is enrolled must authorize all absences from school and notify the school in advance or at the time of the student’s absence. A valid cause for absence includes illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, other situations beyond the control of the student as determined by the Board, voting pursuant to policy 7:90, Release During School Hours (10 ILCS 5/7-42 and 5/17-15), other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or safety , or other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee. 

Click here to view the full Illinois Compulsory Attendance Statute

Attendance Support & Interventions

Attendance interventions may include: 

• Attendance contract
• Attendance plan
• Emails
• Letters
• Texts
• Phone calls
• Parent conferences
• Student conference
• PPS counseling
• Home visits
• Referral to mental health agencies
• Referral to the regional office of education
• Drop from individual classes
• Drop from enrollment
• And/or other interventions to increase a student’s attendance and chances for success

Daily Robodial: Anytime your student is marked absent to a class parents/guardians will be notified by robodial. 

5-Day Letter: All families will be notified by letter when they have reached their 5^th absence, excused or unexcused (including mental health days & out of school suspension). The student is halfway to their allotted 9 absences. 

9-Day Letter: All families will be notified by letter when they have reached their 9^th absence, excused or unexcused (including mental health days & out of school suspension). Moving forward a student will need documentation to excuse any absences. 

Mental Health Day: Students will be referred to PPS upon their 3^rd mental health day.

In order to excuse any absence after 9, beginning with the 10th absence, documentation will be required (doctor’s note, legal paperwork, etc) for the absence to be excused.  

Teachers are not required to allow make-up work or assessments for unexcused absences. 

School Refusal Resources

Follow the links for more info

Is it School Refusal?

School Refusal Podcast

Tips for Parents

Absences Add Up 

Attendance Fact Sheet

Need help at school?

Contact: Samantha Cravens, Truancy & Attendance Social Worker

[email protected]

Full Day Absences - Excused

Every absence, for every student, must be called in within 24-hours of absence. Voicemails may be left on the 24-hour bilingual attendance line at each building. 

The first 9 absences of the school year do not require documentation as long as a parent/guardian calls. These absences can be a combination of the identified reasons for excuses as defined by the Illinois School Code (also listed below). 

Beginning with the 10th absence a medical note will be required to excuse all additional absences.

Students who miss more than 10% of the school year will enter multi-tiered systems of support to address chronic absenteeism concerns.

Student absences that are not reported will be considered a truancy and treated as such. 

Students who are absent for 3 or more academic periods per day are considered full-day absences.

Reasons for excused absences are defined by the Illinois School Code as:

• Illness
• Mental health days (5 max, included in the 9)
• Religious observances
• Death in the family
• Family emergency
• Other situations beyond the control of the student, and must be approved by school personnel. 
• The student is entitled to full make-up privileges for excused absences. The student must meet make-up deadlines established by the teacher. 
• Approved school related activities are not considered absences.

Students who miss less than two days per month are more likely to perform at level.

A 24-hour bilingual voicemail is available at the following numbers:

CAT 708-585-9401

CAL 708-585-9401

SOUTH 708-585-2040

NORTH 708-585-1007

Full Day Absences - Unexcused & Truant

UNEXCUSED ABSENCES require a parent/guardian call on the day of, or within 24 hours, of absence. 

All absences beginning with the 10th absence will be considered unexcused without a doctor’s note.  

A TRUANCY is when a student is absent 3 or more periods in a single day AND the parent/guardian did not report the absence. A truancy is also known as an unverified absence. 

Students with three or more full-day truancies will enter the multi-tiered systems of support.

A student is CHRONICALLY ABSENT  when they miss 10% or more of the current school year due to all absences, and out-of-school suspensions. A CHRONIC TRUANT is a student who has missed 5% OR MORE OF THE PREVIOUS 180 REGULAR ATTENDANCE DAYS due to unexcused absences or truancies. Students who miss 20% (36 days) or more of the last 180 days of enrollment in the district due to unexcused absences/truancy may be administratively withdrawn for a semester. 

An unexcused absence is when the absence is not a valid reason. Examples include, but are not limited to: 

• Senior ditch day
• Salon appointments
• Oversleeping
• Missing the bus
• Vacations
• Personal travel
• Extended family travel during the academic year
• Extending prom weekend
• Senior pictures
• Ditch days

Should a student, seventeen years of age or over, be chronically absent, the student and parents/guardians will be asked to decide about the student’s choices of regular attendance, withdrawal from school, or administrative withdrawal. 

Students absent from school for more than FIFTEEN (15) consecutive school days may be administratively withdrawn.

A 24-hour bilingual voicemail is available at the following numbers:

CAT 708-585-9401

CAL 708-585-9401

SOUTH 708-585-2040

NORTH 708-585-1007

Tardy & Class Skips

Passing periods are 5 minutes.

Tardy Policy:

Punctuality is a student responsibility. Students will be considered tardy if they do not enter their room by the end of passing period or as stipulated in writing by the teacher and signed by all students as classroom procedures. 

If tardiness disrupts the educational process students may be prohibited from entering class. Such a measure may be necessary on a selected or continuing basis.

Tardy Codes:

• Tardy - Excused (TDE): Students who enter with a valid pass after the period has began.
• Unexcused Tardy (TDY): Students who enter a class without a pass.

Teacher Attendance:

Attendance is taken in the first 10 minutes of each class by teachers. 

If a student is coded incorrectly it is the student’s responsibility to contact the teacher who will then request a change through the attendance secretary. 

Passes:

Passes are not issued in the first 10 minutes of class. 

Passes are not issued in the last 10 minutes of class. 

Students can begin to reverse their academic difficulties if they improve their attendance.

Tardy Intervention:

All tardies will be reported to the Deans’/Attendance office on the day of the tardy. Students accumulating multiple tardies, per class, per semester, will be counseled and/or receive intervention(s). 

• Tardy 1 - Teacher Warning
• Tardy 2 - Contact guardian
• Tardy 3- Teacher Intervention (i.e. reflection, lunch/after school detention, assignment, parent conference.)
• Tardy 4+ - Referred to the dean’s office for intervention which may include, but not limited to:
  • Lunch detention
  • After school detention
  • Community Service
  • In-school suspension
  • Parent conference
  • PPS Referral
  • Drop from class

Single Period Absences & Class Skips:

A single period absence is when a student is absent from a single period without valid reason. Also known as a “class skip” or “ditch”. 

Students who miss 20% or more of a single period during a semester due to unexcused absence or class skips may be administratively withdrawn following student services interventions.

The course may need to be recovered.

Be great with less than 8!

Students who miss only 8 days in a school year are more likely to graduate.

Extended Illness, Extenuating Circumstances, & Planned Absences

TFD215 understands that planned or emergency travel may occur during the school year. We recommend that anytime a student is going to be absent for one week or more that parents/guardians arrange a planned absence. 

A parent/guardian must contact the building attendance line to begin the planned absence process. 

A planned absence does not mean the absences are excused, the reason for absence will determine the status of attendance and academic plan. *If the planned absence is due to medical reasons a homebound plan may be appropriate.

MEDICAL ABSENCES & EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES: Parents or guardians are to communicate with the SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER in cases of extended illness to determine if Homebound Services are warranted. Upon approval of the Assistant Principal for Pupil Personnel Services, instruction may be provided through homebound tutoring in cases of extended illness. Homebound tutoring will constitute continuous instruction. 

Any student who has been absent for five consecutive days due to illness must present a medical statement from a licensed physician to return to school. 

If a student will be absent for more than five days due to illness, a medical statement should indicate how long the illness is expected to last. 

Students who miss less than two days per month are more likely to graduate high school on-time.

CAT 708-585-9401

CAL 708-585-9401

SOUTH 708-585-2040

NORTH 708-585-1007