Attendance

Lyons Township High School is committed to forming a partnership with parents to maintain regular student attendance and to prepare students for work/career expectations. Lyons Township High School is committed to the philosophy that every student should attend all of their classes every day.  This does not include students that are medically unable to attend.      

Regular attendance and promptness in all classes are expected as essential for good performance. Excessive absences result in a loss of instructional time, making it more difficult to show mastery of material, thus potentially affecting the class grade or in a loss of class credit.

Activity/Athletics participants are expected to attend school for four class periods of the student’s class schedule on the day of the activity or have prior approval from the athletics/activities director or assistant principal. “Activity” includes practices, competitions, and events related to the extracurricular activity. 

Lyons Township High School must enforce the State of Illinois law regarding compulsory attendance. The law specifies that parents/guardians have the obligation to see that their children are in regular attendance. In order to comply with State of Illinois law, the school reserves the right to determine if an absence is unexcused and/or constitutes truancy, in the school’s sole discretion.

Compulsory School Attendance This policy applies to individuals who have custody or control of a child: (a) between the ages of six (on or before September 1) and 17 years (unless the child has graduated from high school), or (b) who is enrolled in any of grades kindergarten through 12 in the public school regardless of age. 

Subject to specific requirements in State law, the following children are not required to attend public school: (1) any child attending a private school (including a home school) or parochial school, (2) any child who is physically or mentally unable to attend school (including a pregnant student suffering medical complications as certified by her physician), (3) any child lawfully and necessarily employed, (4) any child over 12 and under 14 years of age while in confirmation classes, (5) any child absent because of religious reasons, including to observe a religious holiday, for religious instruction, or because his or her religion forbids secular activity on a particular day(s) or time of day, (6) any child 16 years of age or older who is employed and is enrolled in a graduation incentives program, (7) any child absent for the purpose of sounding "Taps" at a military honors funeral held in this State for a deceased veteran, and (8) any child absent because a parent or legal guardian has been called to active military duty, is on leave from military duty, or has immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting. 

The Illinois School Code and Board Policy 7:70, considers VALID CAUSE (excused) for a student’s absence to be:

1. Illness (including mental health or behavioral health of the student)

2. Observance of a religious holiday

3. Death in the immediate family

4. Attendance at a civic event (one per school year by following the pre-arranged absence procedures)

5. Family emergency

6. Other situations beyond the control of the students as determined by the Board of Education

7. Voting (see Board Policy 7:90, Release During School Hours)

8. Circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or safety

9. Other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee

   • Hospitalization

   • Court dates

   • College visits – when Pre-Arranged Absence Procedures are followed

The attendance guidelines for Lyons Township High School are as follows:

South Campus Attendance Line: 708-579-6528

North Campus Attendance Line: 708-354-4700

It is the parents'/guardians’ responsibility to call the Lyons Township High School Assistant Principals' Office. Calls are expected on the day of the absence. Only calls from parents or legal guardians will be recognized. Emancipated students are allowed to report their own absences. Turning 18 does not grant that authority. It is important to note that a student who has been sick with a fever or vomiting must be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to school. 

Students with excused absences have the responsibility to take the initiative to make up work they have missed. LTHS has a limit of 7 parent/guardian-initiated absences from a class per semester (which includes mental health days without medical notes). When a student has 7+ absences in any class, the school requires written documentation for any subsequent absences, such as a medical doctor’s/treating physician’s note or judicial summons immediately upon returning to school. If such documentation is not provided, the absences will be considered unexcused and result in consequences or loss of privileges. Students with multiple or extended absences due to illness may be required to attend a meeting with an Assistant Principal and Student Support Team members. Parents/guardians must accompany the student at this meeting to discuss academic progress and educational plans.

Pursuant to Illinois law, students may take up to five (5) mental health days per year. A student is not required to provide a medical note for a mental health absence. Students will be given the opportunity to make up any schoolwork missed during a mental health absence. Following the third mental health day, a student may be referred to the grade-level Student Support Team and families will be contacted after the fifth mental health day of absence. Mental Health absences do count toward the seven parental/guardian excused absence total. 

A student’s absence will be considered unexcused if the Assistant Principals' Office has not received a phone call from the student's parent or guardian, or a student has exceeded their 7, parentally excused absences (without medical documentation). Unexcused absences are subject to disciplinary action as follows:

1. First Unexcused Absence: The Assistant Principals' Office will contact the student's parent or guardian and the student will conference with the Assistant Principal. 

2. Second Unexcused Absence: The Assistant Principals' Office will contact the student's parent or guardian; and the student will be assigned a detention. 

3. Third or greater Unexcused Absence: The Assistant Principals' Office will contact the student’s parent or guardian; and the student will be assigned a Saturday detention.  

As grade-level Assistant Principals monitor the attendance of students and reasons for absences, students will be referred to Student Support Teams and meetings will be scheduled with parents/guardians. 

When a student misses a class period, multiple periods, or the entire school day, without parental approval it is classified as a cut. Students will be issued one hour of detention per class period cut.  

When leaving the building during the school day, a parent must call to inform the attendance office of the time the student is to leave PRIOR to that time, preferably first thing in the morning. The student then must check out in the Assistant Principal’s Office before leaving the building or it will not be considered an excused absence. When returning from appointments, the student must check back in at the Assistant Principal’s Office. Failure to follow described check in/check out procedures will result in disciplinary consequences. The school reserves the right to contact doctors’ offices to confirm appointments and/or to review documentation from court appearances.

In the event of a planned absence from school the parent must contact the Assistant Principals' Office. The student must contact the teacher to obtain assignments. 

If a student should become ill during the school day, they must obtain a pass from a classroom teacher to the Nurse's Office. Students should see the school nurse for medical attention, rather than contacting parents directly. The nurse will assess the student and contact the parent if it is determined that the student needs to go home. Students who violate these provisions will be considered unexcused for all class periods missed.

In order to maximize instructional time, students are expected to arrive to all classes and study halls by the time the bell rings. Individual classroom teachers will be involved early in the intervention process so that they can be proactive in encouraging their students to be in class ready to work. Students who are more than 10 minutes late will be marked unexcused absent from that class. The tardy policy for students arriving within the first 10 minutes of class is:

It is the student's responsibility to request information from their teachers about make-up work upon returning to class when they have missed part or all of a class period(s).

Students who have an absence are allowed to make up work and tests and receive credit. Assignments given before the days of absence will be due upon the student's return to class. Students will have 2 days for every one day of excused absence to make up missed work. Students should arrange with teachers the times to make up missed tests. If a test date was announced before the day of the student's absence, the student should be prepared to take the test upon their return to school. Teachers have the right to modify their make-up policies to meet individual needs and circumstances.

Students assigned to In-School Suspension will have the right to make up tests and assignments missed while serving In-School Suspensions. 

Make-up Work for Students Suspended Out-of-School - Students have a right to make up work missed while suspended out-of-school. It is the responsibility of the student to contact their teachers to get missed assignments and arrange for any make-up tests. Students will have 1 day for every day they were suspended out-of-school to make-up missed work.

Study Hall is a part of the student schedule. Regular attendance and tardy expectations are the same as in the classroom. Athletes with athletic study hall must go to PE for the first week of the semester. Any disciplinary action in the athletic study hall may include the student being returned to PE class.

Student attendance is critical to the learning process. Every day of school matters. Being absent too many days from school can make it difficult for students to stay on-track academically and maintain the momentum to graduate from school. Absenteeism is therefore a serious issue and will be dealt with in a serious manner by the school and district. Students who miss 10% or more of the most recent school year, including absences with and without VALID CAUSE (see page 16) and out-of-school suspensions, have chronic absence. Students who are chronically absent will be offered diagnostic procedures to be used for identifying the causes of unexcused student absenteeism, which shall, at a minimum, include interviews with the student, his or her parent or guardian, and any school officials who may have information about the reasons for the student’s attendance problem.  If chronic absenteeism persists after services and other resources are made available, the District will take further action, including:

1. Reporting to officials under the Juvenile Court Act
2. Referral to the State’s Attorney
3. Appropriate school discipline

Student attendance is critical to the learning process. Truancy is therefore a serious issue and will be dealt with in a serious manner by the school and district. Students who miss 5% (9 school days) or more of the previous 180 regular school days without VALID CAUSE (see page 16) are considered chronic truants. Students who are chronic truants will be offered support services and resources aimed at correcting the truancy issue, including, but not limited to, parent conferences, student counseling, family counseling, and information about existing community services that are available to truant and chronically truant students and relevant to their needs. A parent or guardian who knowingly and willfully permits a child to be truant is in violation of the Illinois State Law.

If chronic truancy persists after service and other resources are made available, the District will take further action, including:

1. Referral to the truancy officer
2. Reporting to officials under the Juvenile Court Act
3. Referral to the State’s Attorney
4. Appropriate school discipline

Please see School Board Policy 7:70 for more information on the District’s Attendance and Truancy Policy.