Last modified: March 6, 2024

Attendance Policy

Absences can now be excused by emailing thsattendance@provo.edu.

District Attendance Policy

Definitions

State law requires that all students attend school daily. The Compulsory Attendance Law is defined by Utah Code 53A-11 and provides the following definitions for non-attendance:

“Valid Excuse” (Excused Absence) means an absence resulting from:
1. “An illness;
2. A family death;
3. An approved school activity;
4. An absence permitted by a school-age minor’s:
  1. Individualized education program, developed pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, as amended; or
  2. Accommodation plan, developed pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; or
5. Any other excuse established as valid by a…school district.”
“Truant” is an absence without a valid excuse or an unexcused absence.
“Habitual Truant” is a student who is 12 years of age or older, who fails to cooperate with efforts on the part of designated school authorities to resolve the student’s attendance problem[s], and/or has been absent without a “valid excuse” for ten (10) or more times during the school year.

For more information, please visit The Utah State Legislature Website

Attendance Philosophy

The mission of Timpview High School (THS) is to empower each student to become college, career, and life ready by embracing growth, inclusion, and excellence. This occurs when classroom teachers have engaged students seeking opportunities to learn. If students do not arrive on time and attend all of their classes, it is difficult to learn the content presented by the teacher. Re-teaching lessons and preparing makeup materials for students who are tardy and/or unexcused absent uses valuable teaching time and deprives all students of learning opportunities.

The goals of the Attendance Policy at THS are to: 1) Ensure the safety of students by knowing their whereabouts and holding them accountable for their attendance; 2) Provide students with engaging classroom learning experiences in every class; 3) Celebrate students who are consistently in class and taking advantage of learning opportunities; and 4) Provide appropriate tiered interventions for students (and parents/guardians) who need additional support in school attendance.

Absences

Utah State Law (Utah Code Section 53A-11-101) requires parents/guardians to ensure regular attendance at school by school-age minors for whom they are responsible. In order to prepare students for their future, we expect students to be present in every class, every day. However, parents/guardians may occasionally need to excuse students due to illness and emergencies. Students have ten (10) consecutive school days to excuse/clear-up or recover/make-up unexcused absences. Please see the following information on how to excuse/clear-up and recover/make-up unexcused absences. Excused absences show with a (P) code in PowerSchool attendance records. Parents/Guardians are encouraged to excuse their student’s unexcused absence(s) when appropriate and to do so in a timely manner (within ten (10) consecutive school days of the unexcused absence). Absences that are unexcused (A) are considered and treated as a truancy.

Excusing Absences

Parents/Guardians may excuse absences by sending a note or calling the attendance office at (801) 221 – 9720 during school hours. An excused absence clears a student only from unexcused absences; however, it does not remove the absence from the attendance records. All unexcused absences should be excused within 72 hours. When excusing an absence(s) with a note or on the phone, parents/guardians should include:

Date of the absence(s)
Specific class period(s) missed
Phone number where a parent can be reached
Who is excusing the student

When writing a note please include the date it is written and a parent/guardian signature. Fraudulent excusing of absences whether through phone, e-mail, note, etc. may result in student suspension, loss of privileges for all involved, or further disciplinary action. Students are responsible to recover/make-up any assignments and/or assessments (tests) missed during their absence. Students have the responsibility to arrange for completion of missed assignments and/or assessments with their teachers.

Prior Absence Approval

If the student is planning to have an extended absence, a prior approval form must be filled out by the student and signed by the parent/guardian before the extended absences. The earlier a prior absence approval form is filled out, signed, and submitted, the better teachers can plan for the student’s absence. Forms may be picked up at the Attendance Office. The student accepts the responsibility for getting materials/notes, for completing assignments, and making arrangements for any testing prior to or upon return of absence as required by each teacher. Parents/Guardians and students should realize that any extended absence may adversely affect grades due to missed assignments/assessments, participation points, etc. If denied, the student is advised in person and/or the parent/guardian is notified. If a student misses more than ten (10) consecutive days of school without prior approval or parent/guardian excusal, it is possible that the student fail any current classes and be dropped from school records, including PowerSchool.

Student Check-in/Check-out

All students must check into the Attendance Office if they arrive ten (10) minutes or more after the tardy bell rings. If a student shows up to class ten (10) minutes or more after the tardy bell, the teacher may send the student back to the attendance office to check-in. Regardless, arriving late to class constitutes a tardy, which cannot be excused. Anytime a student leaves campus during class time, the student must check-out through the Attendance Office.

Tardies

Punctuality is an important life skill and tardiness is extremely disruptive and disrespectful to teachers and peers. A student is considered tardy if he or she is not in the classroom when the tardy bell stops ringing. Only teachers, counselors, or administrators may excuse a student’s tardy. Students who come to class after ten (10) minutes are marked exceptionally late (which counts as a tardy) and should have a slip from the Attendance Office. In an extenuating circumstance (e.g., car accident) a parent/guardian may appeal a tardy to be excused by an administrator. Students are allowed sixteen (16) tardies per term before receiving higher tiered support (e.g., Tier 2 – At-Risk). If a student is tardy over thirty (30) minutes after the tardy bell stops ringing, the student is marked as unexcused absent. Students have ten (10) consecutive school days to excuse/clear-up or recover/make-up tardies.

Attendance Appeal Process

Appeals are reserved for rare and/or uncontrollable attendance problems and extenuating circumstances (e.g., medically verified illness, etc.). Appeal forms may be picked up at the Attendance Office. Appeals are taken to an assistant principal based upon the student’s last name. If denied, the student is advised in person and/or parent/guardian is notified.

Context

The THS attendance policy is founded on federal and state laws, policies, and principles. Our country’s Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) and the Utah State Board of Education define chronic absenteeism as missing school 10% or more. In a school year, this would mean a student is identified as chronically absent if he/she misses 18 full days of school or more, 72 periods or more, or a combination of the two. As we define what this means for THS by term and in order to support all students in preparation for their future, THS has adopted a tiered attendance policy.

Tiered Attendance Support

The tiered approach to supporting positive attendance outcomes will help students receive the support needed to make attendance growth. Absences due to school-sponsored activities (e.g., field trips, extracurricular events, etc.) do count toward the absence limit. Please note: All numbers outlined in the grid below reflect periods missed, not days missed.

Tier 1 – Satisfactory
- Threshold: 0 – 9 Absences per term
- Attendance Support:
  - Advisory attendance checks
  - Advisory attendance conversations with teacher (as needed)
  - Attendance rewards (Tier 1 only)
  - Automated attendance phone calls home
  - Notice/Banner on PowerSchool
- Tardy Goals: 0-15 Tardies per term
- Tardy Support:
  - Advisory attendance checks
  - Advisory attendance conversations with teacher (as needed)
  - Attendance rewards (Tier 1 only)
  - Notice/Banner on PowerSchool
Tier 2 – At-Risk
- Attendance Goals: 10 – 17 absences per term
- Attendance Support:
  - In addition to Tier 1 supports:
    - Attendance school
    - Parent contact
    - Rewards for improvement
    - Select extracurricular eligibility withheld
- Tardy Goals: 16-30 Tardies per term
- Tardy Support:
  - In addition to Tier 1 supports:
    - Attendance school
    - Parent contact
    - Rewards for improvement
    - Select extracurricular eligibility withheld
Tier 3 – Chronic
- Attendance Goals: 18 or more per term
- Attendance Support:
  - In addition to Tier 1 and 2 supports and interventions:
    - Check-in/Check-out
    - Parent-Teen Mediation program
    - Provo Attendance Court
    - Referral to social worker
    - Schedule changes
    - Strengthening Families program
    - Student contract
    - Youth Court
- Tardy Goals: 31 Tardies per term
- Tardy Support:
  - In addition to Tier 1 and 2 supports and interventions:
    - Check-in/Check-out
    - Parent-Teen Mediation program
    - Provo Attendance Court
    - Referral to social worker
    - Schedule changes
    - Strengthening Families program
    - Student contract
    - Youth Court

Teachers, attendance office personnel, trackers, counselors, and administrators seek to work with parents/guardians and students who have habitual truancy issues in order to rectify the situation in a timely manner.

Notice – Powerschool

PowerSchool provides an attendance banner/notice to facilitate easy tracking of student absences. To access this information, students and parents/guardians must log into PowerSchool (https://grades.provo.edu). The attendance banner/notice can be found on the Quick Lookup report. Below the student’s name, attendance outcomes are reported for tardies, unexcused absences, parent excused absences, and truancies. If the text is green, the student is in good attendance standing. If the text is red, the student is in poor attendance standing and is at the point where the student is immediately required to attend attendance school to recover/make-up missed time. Students will not receive a physical, written notification about their attendance outcomes. This function may not be compatible using the PowerSchool mobile application. Please use a web browser to access this information.

Attendance School And Interventions

Once students are in the Tier 2 – At-Risk level (please see section above) students are assigned to participate in attendance school. The location of attendance school is generally held in M-10 located in the commons. Students are expected to arrive to attendance school at the start of the attendance school session regardless of how much attendance recovery time a student must recover/make-up. Students should plan to stay for the duration of attendance school.

Each Unexcused Absence must be cleared-up (e.g., parent excuse, doctor excuse, etc.) within ten (10) consecutive school days. If the student does not have a valid excuse for an unexcused absence and it will not be cleared-up otherwise, the student must recover/makeup missed unexcused absence time by attending attendance school before school (Monday through Friday, 6:30am – 7:25am) or after school (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday; 2:30pm – 4:00pm) within that same ten (10) day time frame. In sum, the student is expected to clear-up or make-up unexcused absences within ten (10) consecutive school days of the offense. A session of attendance school before school clears one (1) unexcused absence while attendance at an after school (or Saturday) session clears two (2) unexcused absences. Students are expected to be on time for each session and must stay for the whole session. There is a late bus available to bring students home on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 4:00pm. Unexcused absences may also be made up on select Saturdays. There are two (2) ninety (90) minute attendance school sessions offered on select Saturdays. These sessions begin at 8:00am and 9:30am and are held at THS in M-10 located in the commons (unless otherwise noted). Students can clear two (2) unexcused absences per Saturday School session. Saturday School session dates can be found on the school website, posted outside the general attendance school room, or can be identified through contacting the main or attendance office.

(10) consecutive school days. If the student does not have a valid excuse for a tardy and it will not be cleared-up, the student must recover/make-up missed tardy time by attending attendance school before school (Monday through Friday, 6:30am – 7:25am) or after school (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday; 2:30pm – 4:00pm) within that same ten (10) day time frame for each tardy above fifteen (15). In sum, the student is expected to clear-up or make-up tardies above fifteen (15) within ten (10) consecutive school days of the offense. Attending a session before school clears two (2) tardies, while attendance at an after school (or Saturday) session clears four (4) tardies. There is a late bus available to bring students home on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 4:00pm. Tardies may also be made up on select Saturdays. There are two (2) ninety (90) minute attendance school sessions offered on select Saturdays. These sessions begin at 8:00am and 9:30am and are held at THS in M-10 located in the commons (unless otherwise noted). Saturday School session dates can be found on the school website, posted outside the general Attendance School room, or can be identified through contacting the main or attendance office. In addition, students may choose to make-up their tardies during lunch. Lunch attendance school is held Monday through Friday during lunch. Students may make-up one to two (1-2) tardies during lunch. This will be determined by the attendance school employee and based on how quickly the student arrives to attendance school. Please see the THS website to access the bell schedule to identify lunch times.

Attendance School Recovery
Attendance School Option	Number of Unexcused Absences and Truancies	Number of Tardies
Before School	1	2
Lunch	0	1-2
After School	2	4
Saturday School	2 – One Session 4 – Two Sessions	4 – One Session 8 – Two Sessions

Please Note: The mission/vision of THS is to empower every student to become college, career, and life ready by embracing growth, inclusion, excellence. A core and foundational principle to achieving high levels of success is academic dedication. Academic success is much more likely to occur if students attend class and are engaged in the learning that occurs during the school day. Extracurricular activities and events enrich the lives of our students that choose to participate, and as such, are a privilege to students that regularly demonstrate excellence in attendance expectations. If a student has any required attendance time to recover/make-up because of fifteen (15) or more tardies and/or ten (10) or more unexcused absence(s) (that do not get excused/cleared-up or recovered/madeup after ten (10) consecutive school days) within a term (Tier 2 – At-Risk), the student forfeits the opportunity to participate in THS extracurricular activities, which may include athletics, select clubs, dances, non-class related performances, and similar. The student that is required to excuse/clear-up and/or recover/make-up attendance time may also not be allowed to attend school-related events, including, but not limited to, athletic games, dances including Prom, and the graduation ceremony.

Students have 10 days to make-it-up or clear-it-up

Attendance data is collected and distributed at the beginning of the week to school personnel to inform what tiered support students will be assigned to (going back ten (10) consecutive school days). If students throughout the week recover/make-up attendance through attendance school, the change in each student’s tier will be evidenced by the notice/banner on their PowerSchool Quick Lookup report. It is each student’s responsibility to show their advisors, coaches, etc. the change in attendance outcomes if extracurricular eligibility is a concern.

Attendance school sessions will not require a fine for the 2018-2019 school year. An Attendance school fine may be established in the future.

Please see the attendance school schedule below for days and times attendance school is offered. The “days offered” are select based on adult supervision and building availability.

Before School: Monday through Friday – 6:30 a.m. – 7:25 a.m.
Lunch: Monday through Friday – During Lunch
After School: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – 2:30p.m. – 4:00p.m.
Saturday School: Select Saturdays (dates posted on school website) – Two (2) Sessions
- 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
- 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

If a student refuses interventions as they are assigned, school administration reserves the right to implement progressive disciplinary action for insubordination. These actions can include revocation of extracurricular privileges, suspension, referral to school/district programs, and/or other. If a student is assigned to in-school suspension (ISS), the time spent in ISS does not count toward the time owed for attendance.

Students that require Tier 3 – Chronic support will be worked with on an individual basis. Parents/Guardians will be notified about the various supports assigned to the student. If a student and/or parent/guardian has any questions about the Tier 3 supports they should contact the main or attendance office to have their questions answered. PCSD operates Provo Attendance Court and other student services programs. Please contact the PCSD Student Services Department (Community Learning Center) for more information.

Additional Notes

School excused absences (e.g., field trips, extracurricular activities, etc.) do not count toward the absence limit. Students are still responsible to recover/make-up all material missed and must make arrangements with their teachers.

Leaving campus without parental/guardian permission and not going through the proper check-out procedure in the attendance office for any reason is considered an unexcused absence.

Parents/Guardians must physically be present at the attendance office to check a student out. We discourage parents/guardians contacting a student directly via cell phone/text because this disrupts learning for other students.

It is the student’s responsibility to identify with other students if a student must attend attendance school prior to purchasing school-related event tickets (e.g., dance tickets, etc.) by one (1) student for another student. If a student shows up to a school-related event and needs to recover/make-up attendance time through attendance school and has not done so, the student may be turned away at the door and be required to leave the event.

The THS Attendance Policy is subject to change based on student needs and administrator’s professional discretion.

Shared Responsibilities

Below includes a list of responsibilities for students, parents/guardians, teachers, attendance office personnel including trackers, counselors, and administrators. This is not a comprehensive list. We all work together to help students achieve positive attendance outcomes.

Student Responsibilities

Understand the THS Attendance Policy
Attend classes
Arrive to class on time
Request and complete make-up work for missed class time
Arrange notification to excuse unexcused absences before ten (10) consecutive school days pass and/or attend attendance school within ten (10) consecutive days of the unexcused absence offense
Arrange notification for prior approval for absences
Check PowerSchool attendance outcomes regularly
Complete Attendance School or tiered support programs within a timely manner
Check with attendance office personnel prior to purchasing event tickets (e.g., dances) and recover/make-up any attendance in a timely manner.

Parent/Guardian Responsibilities

Understand the THS Attendance Policy
Check PowerSchool attendance outcomes regularly
Contact the THS Attendance Office to excuse unexcused absences before ten (10) consecutive school days pass
Make sure notes/phone calls excusing unexcused absences include the criteria listed previously in “Excusing Absences”
Contact an administrator about extenuating circumstances for absence appeals within a timely manner

Teacher Responsibilities:

Submit daily attendance in a timely manner and keep accurate record of student attendance (e.g., If a student is tardy, remembering to change the student’s attendance from unexcused absence to tardy)
Begin class on time and provide meaningful and engaging classroom instruction each day
When possible, discuss attendance issues with students as they arise and inform school counselors or administrators if attendance does not improve
Have students check attendance often and regularly in Advisory class and have conversations with individual students as necessary
Please Note: Teachers reserve the right to withhold make-up work if student absences are not excused with a valid reason

Attendance Office Personnel and Tracker Responsibilities:

Keep students, parents/guardians, counselors, and administrators informed of attendance issues
Notify students and their parents/guardians of excessive absenteeism by phone message or letter/postcard
Inform students of how much time is owed and discuss with students when to makeup their time through Attendance School
Review and keep accurate attendance records and help resolve discrepancies
Provide check-in/check-out slips upon receiving proper notification by any adult authorized by the student’s parent/guardian

Counselor Responsibilities:

Counsel with student in regards to attendance concerns
Work with administration to assign students with attendance issues to attend Tier 3 intervention support when needed
Work closely with parents/guardians when students have significant attendance issues by phone, email, or in person

Administrator Responsibilities:

Work collaboratively with students, parents/guardians, teachers, attendance office personnel including trackers, counselors, and related service providers (e.g., social workers, truancy specialists, etc.) to support positive attendance outcomes
Consider attendance extenuating circumstances
Use earnest and persistent efforts to improve student attendance using a tiered system of interventions
Enforce and uphold the Utah State Compulsory Education Law

Attendance Contacts

Below includes contact information for individuals that are directly related to supporting positive attendance outcomes.

Counselors

Alai Kalaniuvalu (A-B) – alaik@provo.edu
Jami Ohran (C-Em) – johran@provo.edu
Terri Kerr (En-He) -terric@provo.edu
Christie Lee (Hi-L) – christiel@provo.edu
Jordan Williams (M-Pe) – jordanw@provo.edu
Rachelle Carter (Ph-Sm) – rachellec@provo.edu
Nate Warner (Sn-Z) – natew@provo.edu

Attendance Office

Patty Martinez – patriciama@provo.edu

School Resources

Phone Number: (801) 221-9720

We realize some students have unique and atypical situations that impact attendance outcomes and will work with those students on an individualized basis.

Download Printable Attendance Policy