Cranston Public Schools Attendance Policy
Our attendance regulations are based on Title 16 of the State Laws, school committee policies, and school department regulations. They provide only three circumstances under which an absence or tardiness is acceptable:
· Illness or medical reasons
· An emergency situation which cannot be handled at any other time
· Religious observance
While it is the responsibility of the parent to determine when an illness is serious enough to keep a child home from school, in cases of habitual or continuous absence due to illness, the school reserves the right to require a doctor’s note and may request the school nurse to visit an ill student. In case of an emergency situation, the school retains the right and responsibility to decide on the validity of each case, and the parent and student must notify the school, in advance, if possible.
In all cases of absence from school, a parent is required to call the school on the day of the absence. If the school does not receive a phone call, the school calls the home. In cases where there is “no answer,” the student may be called to the office on the day s/he returns to school in order to explain his/her absence.
In all cases of absence from school, all students must bring to their homerooms on the day of their return to classes a written note (containing name, homeroom, date and reason for absence, signature of the parent, and a phone number where the parent/guardian can be contacted by the school).
Students must recognize the importance of regular attendance to attain maximum benefit from the necessity for the development of good attendance habits. All students in Cranston Public Secondary Schools are expected to be in regular attendance.
Rhode Island Compulsory Attendance Law Under Title 16
§ 16-19-1 Attendance required. – (a) Every child who has completed or will have completed six (6) years of life on or before September 1 of any school year and has not completed sixteen (16) years of life shall regularly attend some public day school during all the days and hours that the public schools are in session in the city or town in which the child resides.
Every person having under his or her control a child as described in this section shall cause the child to attend school as required by this section, and for every neglect of this duty the person having control of the child shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day or part of a day that the child fails to attend school, and if the total of these days is more than thirty (30) school days during any school year, then the person shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned not exceeding six (6) months or shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both; provided, that if the person so charged shall prove that the child has attended for the required period of time a private day school approved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education pursuant to § 16-60-6(10), or a course of at-home instruction approved by the school committee of the town where the child resides, or that the physical or mental condition of the child was such as to render his or her attendance at school inexpedient or impracticable, or that the child was excluded from school by virtue of some general law or regulation, then attendance shall not be obligatory nor shall the penalty be incurred.
Our attendance regulations are based on Title 16 of the State Laws, school committee policies, and school department regulations. They provide only three circumstances under which an absence or tardiness is acceptable:
· Illness or medical reasons
· An emergency situation which cannot be handled at any other time
· Religious observance
While it is the responsibility of the parent to determine when an illness is serious enough to keep a child home from school, in cases of habitual or continuous absence due to illness, the school reserves the right to require a doctor’s note and may request the school nurse to visit an ill student. In case of an emergency situation, the school retains the right and responsibility to decide on the validity of each case, and the parent and student must notify the school, in advance, if possible.
In all cases of absence from school, a parent is required to call the school on the day of the absence. If the school does not receive a phone call, the school calls the home. In cases where there is “no answer,” the student may be called to the office on the day s/he returns to school in order to explain his/her absence.
In all cases of absence from school, all students must bring to their homerooms on the day of their return to classes a written note (containing name, homeroom, date and reason for absence, signature of the parent, and a phone number where the parent/guardian can be contacted by the school).
Students must recognize the importance of regular attendance to attain maximum benefit from the necessity for the development of good attendance habits. All students in Cranston Public Secondary Schools are expected to be in regular attendance.
Rhode Island Compulsory Attendance Law Under Title 16
§ 16-19-1 Attendance required. – (a) Every child who has completed or will have completed six (6) years of life on or before September 1 of any school year and has not completed sixteen (16) years of life shall regularly attend some public day school during all the days and hours that the public schools are in session in the city or town in which the child resides.
Every person having under his or her control a child as described in this section shall cause the child to attend school as required by this section, and for every neglect of this duty the person having control of the child shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day or part of a day that the child fails to attend school, and if the total of these days is more than thirty (30) school days during any school year, then the person shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned not exceeding six (6) months or shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both; provided, that if the person so charged shall prove that the child has attended for the required period of time a private day school approved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education pursuant to § 16-60-6(10), or a course of at-home instruction approved by the school committee of the town where the child resides, or that the physical or mental condition of the child was such as to render his or her attendance at school inexpedient or impracticable, or that the child was excluded from school by virtue of some general law or regulation, then attendance shall not be obligatory nor shall the penalty be incurred.