Attendance Central

Parents/guardians of learners who have been absent must provide a note to the attendance office within three (3) days of the learner returning to school.

Doctor's note when ill

• Doctor’s notes are accepted in lieu of School Absence Form for the dates indicated. An additional doctor note or parent note will be required for any days not covered by the medical note.
  
• Absences of 4 or more consecutive school days because of illness will require a note from a medical professional to continue to mark absences as excused.
  

Best practice would be to schedule any doctor's appointments before or after school.

In the event that your child needs to attend a doctor visit during the school day, please do bring them to school if possible.  Learners who go to the doctor AND attend school the same day with a doctor note are not counted absent.

If the learner must miss a full day, please bring a doctor’s note when returning from the office visit, not just a handwritten parent note. Medical notes from parents that are also the attending physician will equate to a parent note, not a doctor note.

• Please submit a parent note which indicates the specific date(s) of the religious holy day(s) prior to your child's absence or within 3 days of their return.
  
  • If travel is required, please include the travel dates, and clearly indicate they are travel days. 
    
• If a note is not provided, the absence will be marked unexcused.
  

Parents/Guardians can check all attendance records through Skyward Family Access.

• Skyward Family Access can be found on the Winfree Academy website under Learner Resources, Parent Portal.
  
• Click on the Skyward Family Access Link
• When you get the Skyward Login page, you will enter your User Name and Password. Be sure to change the dropdown box to "Family/Student Access"If you haven’t registered or forgotten your information, click on the appropriate link to get access.
  
• Once you have accessed Skyward Family Access, you will find tabs on the left side of the page.
  
• Click the Attendance tab.
  
• Look at the date/dates in question. There is a description associated with each attendance entry. 
  

Winfree Academy Charter Schools classifies learners who are tardy , arriving 10+ minutes late for school, or who have left the school early as an "L" code.   Missing a part of the instructional day is included in the absence count for needing a truancy intervention plan and for filing in court. 

Texas Education Code 25.085(a), Compulsory School Attendance, states that a child who is required to attend school under this section shall attend school each school day for the entire period the program of instruction is provided.

• The note was not submitted within 3 days of the student returning to school.
  
• The note submission may be in the queue for processing by the Attendance Clerk.
• The learner may have exceeded the number of notes allowable per semester.
• The student's absence was due to a reason not considered excused by State guidelines and/or School policy.  It is important to note that vacations and trips are not excused absences.
  

The following absences are FUNDED and CONSIDERED PRESENT by the Texas Education Agency – student is not on campus/in class at the official attendance-taking time, but the district is allowed to receive funding:

• Religious Holy Days (parent note is sufficient as long as it stipulates the holy day being celebrated)
  
• Required court appearances (An appearance notice or documentation from the court is needed)
  
• Activities related to obtaining United States citizenship of the STUDENT ONLY
  
• Service as an election clerk
  
• Documented health-care appointments for the student or a child of the student IF the learner both goes to the doctor AND attendance school in the same day.  A note from the health-care provider must be submitted upon the student’s arrival or return to campus.  Teledoc appointments with the appropriate documentation may also used.  
• For students in the conservatorship (custody) of the State, mental health or therapy appointments; or court-ordered family visitations or any other court-ordered activity, provided it is not practicable to schedule the student’s participation in the activity outside of school hours.
  
• Approved School sponsored activity under the direction of a professional staff member
  
• Missing school for the purpose of playing “Taps” at a military honors funeral held in Texas for a deceased veteran.
  
• Two College Visits per year for students in their junior/senior year of high school
  
• Student is 17 years of age or older and pursuing enlistment in a branch of the U.S. uniformed services or the Texas Army National Guard
  
• Student is absent to visit with a parent, stepparent, or legal guardian who is an active-duty member of the uniformed services and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or is immediately returned from continuous deployment of at least four months outside the locality where the parent, stepparent, or guardian regularly resides.
  
• Learner 15 years or older in high school misses school for the purpose of visiting a driver’s license office to obtain a driver’s license or learner permit
  
• Learner is absent as the result of a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment that makes the student’s attendance infeasible see the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook Section 3.63 for documentation requirements.
  

The following absences are considered EXCUSED – not funded (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Personal Illness of student or their child (not a sibling or parent) with parent note (after 4 consecutive days a doctor’s note is needed for additional absences to be excused)
  
• Medical Appointment with doctor note if the appointment takes the student out of school all day.
• Death in the student’s immediate family - if leaving the state, student will be afforded 1-day travel to and 1-day travel from location and 1 day for funeral/memorial service (up to a total of 3 days only excused)
  
• Visa appointment for child only – day of appointment and 1 day travel to and 1 day travel from location, if needed, can be excused
  
• Tax ID appointment for child only
  
• Passport renewal for child only
  
• Religious event (not a holy day) with a parent note describing the event - this does not include travel and is not to be used for religious holy days which fall under the funded absence listing
  

The following absences are UNEXCUSED – not funded (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Being absent without parental consent or knowledge
  
• Willfully failing or refusing to attend school
  
• Being absent without written notification/phone contact from a parent or legal guardian
  
• Family/individual vacations, visits or trips
  
• Non-school related/sponsored competition, club event, or organizational competition
  
• Employment outside of school not part of a work-based learning opportunity affiliated with a course in the student’s schedule
  
• Family births (unless student is giving birth)
  
• Traffic, car trouble, transportation issues
• Any appointment or event not related to the students themselves (e.g. caring for sibling or another child, sibling travel, sibling or parent doctor appointment)
  

Laws Governing Compulsory Attendance in Texas Schools

A parent/guardian commits an offense of thwarting compulsory attendance under Texas Education Code Sec. 25.093, if after having been warned in writing, a child has UNEXCUSED voluntary absences on 10 or more days or part of days within a 6-month period. An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor