Attendance Policy

Pupils are required to attend regularly and punctually the school in which they are enrolled. Recording of absences and tardies shall be made in compliance with the requirements of 702 KAR 007:125.

Perfect Attendance:

A student who is considered to have perfect attendance will have NO absences and NO MORE THAN 6 excused tardies (we are allowing one tardy per month for things such as doctor/dentist appointments).  If the student has missed any percentage of the day above a tardy or has ANY unexcused tardies, they are no longer considered to have perfect attendance.

Punctual Attendance:

Any student who has 3 or less EXCUSED ABSENCES and NO MORE THAN 6 excused tardies will have punctual attendance.

If a child is absent:

  1. Parents should telephone the school the day of the child’s absence to report why the absence is necessary.  This is for the safety of your child.  If, for some reason, the parent/guardian has not contacted the school, our office personnel will attempt to make contact with the parent/guardian and will continue down the child’s call list until we have spoken with someone.

  2. The day the child returns to school, either a note from the parent or a doctor’s excuse should be sent.  Any student who does not have a note or doctor’s excuse will be given an UNEXCUSED absence.  We have included definitions of excused and unexcused absences below.

Excused Absences:

  1. Illness of the student

  2. Death in the family

  3. Illness in the immediate family

  4. Medical appointments

  5. Mandated court appearances

  6. School sanctioned activities

  7. Approved religious holidays

  8. Emergency situations as determined by the principal

Unexcused absences include but are not limited to:

  1. Babysitting

  2. Hair or nail appointments

  3. Personal business

  4. Job hunting

  5. Vehicle breakdown

  6. Oversleeping

  7. Out of town trips without prior approval of the principal

  8. Failure of parent to notify school of absence or failure to send a note

  9. Hunting or fishing

  10. Missed bus

Make-up work shall be permitted for excused absences only. The student will be allowed the number of days for make-up work equal to the number of days EXCUSED absent.  PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR COME BY THE SCHOOL TO PICK UP MISSED WORK.  If a student is too sick to come to school, he/she is probably too sick to do homework.  It is the student’s responsibility to contact the teacher for make-up work.  If your doctor sends a note that the student can do make-up work at home, you may contact the school.

Poor Attendance or Truancy

It is the policy of the Muhlenberg County School system that a student is considered truant with three unexcused absences.  The following procedure will apply to poor attendance or truancy:

  1. After 2 unexcused absences, the parent/guardian will be contacted by the school as a reminder of the importance of good attendance and what our attendance policy is.

  2. After 4 Unexcused absences, further action may be taken such as a home visit by the Family Resource Center staff or a referral to the Director of Pupil Personnel (DPP) at the Board of Education.

  3. After 7 or more unexcused absences, the DPP and/or Department of Community Based Services MUST be notified.  Seven or more unexcused absences is considered Educational Neglect.

School Nurse

Muhlenberg South Elementary School has a full-time Registered Nurse available to assess students’ health and to distribute medications.  If you are concerned about your child’s health but he/she does not have fever or vomiting, send him/her to school and the school nurse can determine whether the child can attend classes or needs to be sent home.  The nurse will ALWAYS make the decision that is best for the student’s health.