Attendance

Yes. Absences can be reported 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. You may report absences for any school day.  Please try to call as soon as possible.  Absence phone calls will start going out 50 minutes after the school day starts.  Check your child's school start and dismissal times under the Attendance Lines section of the Attendance webpage specific times.

You’ll receive a call from the school via the SchoolMessenger System.

If you answer the phone, you’ll have the chance to enter the absence. (simulation below)

• A student in your household named “Your Child's Name” was absent today.
• If you are aware of this absence press 1
• If you did not know your student was absent from school, immediately call your child’s school.
• Enter 1 for a full day absence .etc.

If you don’t answer, you’ll receive a call and will need to call the school office to convert the absence to excused.

NOTE:  Parents/Guardians have 5 business days to turn in doctor's notes for excused absences.

• Crawford Woods and Highland Elementary Schools - 8:30 AM
• Brookwood and Fairwood Elementary Schools - 8:45 AM
• Linden and Ridgeway Elementenary Schools - 9:00 AM
• Bridgeport and Riverview Elementary Schools - 9:15 AM
• Garfield and Wilson Middle Schools - 8:05 AM
• Hamilton High School Freshmans Campus - 7:30 AM
• Hamilton High School Main Campus - 7:45 AM
• Miami School - 7:15 AM

In order to be eligible to participate in an event or practice, a student must be at school the entire day of the event or practice. Exceptions to the rule are only for doctor and dentist appointments (REQUIRING one day advance notice), or at the discretion of the Principal who oversees attendance.

Documentation of the doctor or dentist appointment needs to be submitted to the attendance office the day after the absence. An entire day of school consists of attending all scheduled classes.

Although students are encouraged to take vacation while school is out of session, students may be excused for trips and vacations, provided that prior arrangements are made with their school administration.

If a vacation is not properly approved, the absences will be unexcused.

Chronic absenteeism, as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act, is missing 10 percent or more of the school year for any reason. It includes excused and unexcused absences. Schools and districts should provide support to the student and his or her family before the student has missed 10 percent of the school year.

Ohio law defines a habitually truant student as “any child of compulsory school age who is absent without legitimate excuse for absence from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty or more consecutive hours, forty-two or more hours in one school month, or seventy-two or more hours in one school year.” Districts should keep in mind that truancy is different from chronic absenteeism. Truancy only counts absences without a legitimate excuse. Also, when a child is habitually truant, the district is required to follow several administrative procedures and legal solutions to ensure the student attends school regularly.

Ohio law specifies that a student is excessively absent “with a nonmedical excuse or without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty-eight or more hours in one school month, or sixty-five or more hours in a school year.” What are the definitions of medical and nonmedical excuses? The definitions of medical and nonmedical excuses are defined by districts per Ohio Administrative Code 3301-69-02 and 3301-18-01. Districts should update local board-adopted attendance policies to include definitions of medical and nonmedical excuses, including a process and timeline for submitting medical excuses.

Below is a breakdown of how different types of absenteeism compare.

More information on Attendance Laws at the Ohio Department of Education Website.