Attendance

Attendance Law

Minnesota State Law governs the attendance of pupils and obligates schools to ensure regular attendance. Minnesota Law (MN 120A.22, Subd. 5) provides that every child between seven and seventeen years of age shall attend a public school or private school for not less than nine months during any school year. Students between the ages of seventeen and eighteen are eligible under MN 120A.22, Subd. 8 to withdraw from instruction, if a parent meets with a school official to discuss the pros and cons of withdrawal, and signs off on a state-required form.

Continuing Truant

Minn. Stat. 260A.02, Subd. 2 provides that a continuing truant is a student who is subject to compulsory instruction requirements and is absent from instruction without valid excuse within a single school year for 3 or more class periods on 3 days.

Habitual Truant 

Minn. Stat. 260C.007, Subd. 19, provides that a habitual truant is a student who is subject to compulsory instruction requirements and is absent from instruction without valid excuse within a single school year for seven or more class periods on seven days.  In cases of recurring absences the administration may request the County Attorney file a petition with the Juvenile Court pursuant to the above statute. Each county follows different procedures when responding to notification by a school of unexcused absences (truancies). Timely communication from a parent or guardian about the reason a student is absent is essential to avoid erroneous truancy filings.

Truancy Procedures 

1. After 3 unexcused absences a letter will be sent to parent/guardian to inform of continuing truancy, and a referral to a county program may occur.
2. After 7 unexcused absences a second letter of habitual truancy will be sent to the parent/guardian and a Truancy Petition may be sent to the county attorney and/or a referral to a county program intended to improve attendance will be made if not done previously.
3. Parents may be notified by an automated system (phone and/or electronic) if they have authorized this in Skyward and we have the information necessary to communicate automatically.
4. In addition to the above consequences, students who are truant may receive in school suspension.

Withdrawal Process

Parents who wish to withdraw their seventeen year old student from instruction are required by law to meet with school personnel. The process for withdrawal from instruction is as follows:

1. Parent/guardian and student arrange a meeting with the assistant principal to discuss the educational opportunities available to the student.
2. All school-owned books and materials must be returned. Fines and fees must be paid.
3. An internal withdrawal form must be signed by the parent, a school administrator, the student and the student’s teachers indicating that materials have been returned and fees paid, and noting grades-to-date.
4. Per state statute, an official withdrawal form must be signed by the student’s parent.

A student will be considered absent when the student is missing from class or Advisory. In order to have this absence excused, the parent or guardian must contact the attendance secretary with one of the following reasons for the absence.

Excused Absences

Excused absences are authorized by the parent / guardian and accepted by the school. The following are examples of excused absences:

1. Illness of student or serious illness in the student’s immediate family (I).

2. A death or funeral in the student’s immediate family, or of a close friend or relative (F).

3. Medical, dental, or orthodontic treatment, or a counseling appointment (D or M).

4. Court appearances occasioned by family or personal action (L).

5. Physical emergency conditions such as fire, flood, storm, etc (P).

6. Removal of a student pursuant to a suspension. Suspensions are to be handled as excused absences and students will be permitted to complete make-up work (X or Y).

7. Family emergencies (P).

8. Active duty in any military branch of the United States (Z).

9. A student’s condition that requires ongoing treatment for a mental health diagnosis (M).

10. School activity (S).

11. College visit or Military requirements or visit with recruiter (Z).

12. Other reasons approved by a building administrator (B).

13. Pre-arranged absences:  Absences for family trips requested by parent or guardian and approved by the principal will be excused.  Arrangements of this type should be made in advance and work should be made up before the absence occurs, if possible (V).

Note: After 10 cumulative excused absences a doctor’s note or other verification may be required. Policy states that a note from a physician or a licensed mental health professional stating that the student cannot attend school is a valid excuse.

Unexcused Absences

Unexcused Absences include those absences which cannot be classified in the above categories and/or are not approved by the school. 

The following are examples of unexcused absences regardless of parent/guardian approval:  

1. Truancy. An absence by a student which was not approved by the parent and/or the school district.
2. Any absence in which the student failed to comply with any reporting requirements of the school’s attendance procedures.
3. Work at home, or care for a younger sibling.
4. Work at a business, except under a school-sponsored work release program.
5. Any other absence not included under the attendance procedures set out in this policy other than those approved by a building administrator.

Absences resulting from official suspension will not be counted as unexcused.

Parents/guardians are to call the Student Attendance Line (763-389-6014) each day their child is absent. Parents/guardians may call the Attendance Line 24 hours a day and leave a message. If no prior contact has been made before the student returns to school, a note signed by a parent is sufficient stating the student’s name (including middle initial), date(s) of absence, and reason for absence. State regulations require that a student who is absent without excuse for fifteen (15) consecutive days of school must be dropped and formally readmitted to return.

If a student becomes ill during the day, or if a student must leave school for any reason, he/she must receive permission from the office prior to leaving school. If a student leaves school for any reason without receiving permission from the office, the absence that results will be regarded as unexcused/truant and consequences will occur.

Teachers are not required to provide or grade work if the absence is not coded “excused”. Excused absences will not result in a reduction in grades, but failure to complete work usually will affect grades. Assignments and homework can be collected in the office after a student is absent three or more days. Teachers are responsible for providing assignments after this time if the student or parent/guardian requests assignments from the office or directly from the teacher. 

Students are responsible for requesting make-up work for each day’s absence and teachers are responsible for providing it. The responsibility for completing this work rests with the student. It must also be understood that a large part of what happens in the classroom cannot be replicated and is lost whether the absence is excused or not. Students will be allowed two school days’ make-up work time after returning from an excused absence. Long-term assignments or tests may still be due the day of the student’s return to school. Testing and due dates may be extended at the discretion of the teacher. 

Parents/guardians may be notified daily by automated telephone or by Skyward if their student is absent from any class. (Parents must check the box in Skyward that allows the system to notify them of an absence if they wish to be notified.) In addition, parents are expected to monitor their students’ attendance and grades online through their Skyward Parent Portal account and communicate with the school about concerns and unexcused absences. This can be found under the main Princeton page, Family Logins tab, Skyward Toolkit where there is an option to sign up for alerts. This is highly recommended.

Students who are tardy to school must check-in at the security office for a late slip. Students who are habitually late to school without a legitimate excuse from their parent/guardian may earn consequences, including parent notification, Lunch Detention, and/or suspension of parking privileges. 

In general, tardies to class will be addressed by the individual classroom teacher. Students may be considered tardy if they are not through the threshold of the classroom door by the time the bell has stopped sounding. Students will be considered absent if 15 minutes tardy without a legitimate pass, or if they are out of class for 15 minutes or more without explicit permission to be gone for an extended time.

The following are intended to help maintain attendance of all PHS students during tournament play. Tournament attendance procedures are as follows:

1. When a PHS team or an individual(s) is in the Sectional/State Tournament, Varsity/Junior Varsity team participants are marked “Student Activity” to attend a tournament. Participants need to have prior authorization from a parent with the Attendance Secretary to have it counted as an excused absence and to ride school-provided transportation
2. When participants of an activity wish to spectate at a State Tournament (with no PHS team competing), the participants will be excused if their parent has provided a note prior to the event. Participants need to show their ticket stub to the attendance secretary.