Perfect attendance

Who sets perfect attendance rules, you or Frankfort?

In at least one Kentucky district, the start of the school year and the state's new regulations on counting students present or tardy has created an issue regarding the impact of the new rule on perfect attendance awards.

Recipients of the KSBA e-News Service or regular users of the KSBA Web site may have seen the news story we posted that read, in part, as follows:

Students who receive perfect attendance awards starting this year will have accomplished some feat because they cannot be a minute late or leave early for an appointment without receiving a tardy under new guidelines set by the state.

New controversial methods for calculating student attendance have been put in place for the 2006-07 school year by the Kentucky State Board of Education and Kentucky Department of Education. In previous school years, students were considered half-day absent, full-day absent or tardy (up to two hours and 22 minutes missing from school).

Any student with a tardy will not be recognized for “perfect” attendance.

Next, here is the text of the new state regulation:

702 KAR 7:125

Section 8. The guidelines in this subsection shall be used to calculate student attendance for state funding purposes.

(1) A full day of attendance shall be recorded for a pupil who is in attendance 100 percent of the regularly-scheduled school day for the pupil's grade level.

(2) A tardy shall be recorded for a pupil who is absent sixty (60) minutes or less of the regularly-scheduled school day for the pupil's grade level.

(3) The actual percentage of the school day shall be recorded for attendance of a pupil absent for more than sixty (60) minutes of the regularly-scheduled school day for the pupil's grade level.

(4) A full day absence shall be recorded for a pupil who is absent 100 percent of the regularly-scheduled school day for the pupil's grade level.

(5) The percentages described in this subsection shall apply to the regularly-scheduled school day approved by the local board of education and shall be applicable to entry level through grade level twelve (12).

While the state regulates attendance for the purpose of receiving state funding, KSBA's Legal Services and Policy and Procedures Services staff advise that the authority for setting criteria for "perfect attendance awards" is solely a local function, either of the school council, the school board (for districtwide consistency) or through a collaboration of these official bodies.

Therefore, as local leaders, you have two options. You certainly may choose to adhere to a strict use of the new student attendance regulation for state funding as the yardstick you use to set qualifications for "perfect" attendance recognitions. You also may opt to continue to with the same criteria you have used in the past, which may allow for a limited number of excused absences or tardiness episodes to still qualify for your local "perfect attendance" designation.

# # #

Kentucky School Boards Association

Navigation