Attendance Regular school attendance is important for all students! Please let a counselor or principal know if you are experiencing challenges getting to school regularly. There are support systems and resources in place to help you. We want you at school! Please see complete attendance policy in the LWSD Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.

Absence and Tardy Policy
All absences and late arrivals should be called into the office for excusal at 425-936-2401 within 48 hours of the absence. Any absence unreported will be deemed an unexcused absence. Absence from school or class without the knowledge and consent of either parents or the school authorities is considered truancy. If a student comes in to school late for first period, the student must check-in at the attendance office. The student must have a legible note or the parent/guardian must call the attendance office to excuse the tardy. If the student has missed more than half of a class period, the record will reflect an absence rather than a tardy. Students will receive a lunch detention for being late to any class without an excusal pass. When a student receives three or more chronic tardy records in a class, it was convert to an absence. Excessive absenteeism (more than two unexcused absences in a month) or tardiness may result in corrective action including family conference(s) with the principal, community truancy board, and/or referral to the juvenile court via truancy petition according to Washington State’s truancy law RCW 28A.225.030. The school principal (or designee) has the authority to determine if an absence meets the criteria for an excused absence.

Pre-Arranged Absences
Attendance Matters to Academic Performance. Click here to get more information. Missing school for two or more days in advance should prompt students to get a Pre-Arranged Absence form from the main office prior to the dates they will be out of school. The Attendance Secretary in the main office and the student’s teachers should be made aware of these types of absences in advance. The parent/guardian must sign this form. Pre-arranged absences for family vacations must be approved by the principal in advance in order to be excused.

Pre-Arranged absence Form

Illness
Students with a temperature or flu-like symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea, should not attend school. Students should not return to school until they have been free of symptoms for 24 hours. If a student becomes ill during the school day, they must check out through the health room and the attendance office. No student will be released from school without contact with a parent/guardian.

Parent/guardian must come in to the building to sign-out a student. Leaving during the school day
Kamiakin, like all other middle schools in our district, has a closed campus. This means that students are not permitted to leave school at any time during the day without a pass from the office. For planned appointments during the day, students must bring a note from a parent/guardian prior to the start of the day to receive an early dismissal pass from the attendance office. The parent must come in the building to personally sign- out their student. When the student returns to school, he/she must sign in at the same office. Closed campus also means that once you have arrived at school in the morning, you may not leave, even if school has not yet started.

Leaving campus after dismissal
Once school has released for the day all students should leave campus unless they are taking part in a school sanctioned activity.

Students who do not ride a bus are asked to leave campus by 3:00.
There is no adult supervision outside of arranged school activities. The expectation from the administration is that students are not left to “hang out” on campus unless they are participating in a school-sponsored event, club, or sport. If a student wishes to ride a bus other than his/her assigned bus after school, he/she must bring a note with parent/guardian permission to the office before school starts.

WAC 392-400-325: Statewide definition of excused and unexcused daily absences Excused daily absences
The following are valid excuses for absences from school:
(1) Participation in a district or school approved activity or instructional program;
(2) Illness, health condition or medical appointment (including, but not limited to, medical, counseling, dental or optometry) for the student or person for who the student is legally responsible;
(3) Family emergency including, but not limited to, a death or illness in the family;
(4) Religious or cultural purpose including observance of a religious or cultural holiday or participation in religious or cultural instruction;
(5) Court, judicial proceeding, or serving on a jury;
(6) Post-secondary, technical school or apprenticeship program visitation, or scholarship interview;
(7) State-recognized search and rescue activities consistent with RCW 28A.225.055;
(8) Absence directly related to the student's homeless status;
(9) Absences related to deployment activities of a parent or legal guardian who is an active duty member consistent with RCW 28A.705.010;
(10) Absence resulting from a disciplinary/corrective action (e.g., short-term or long-term suspension, emergency expulsion); and
(11) Principal (or designee) and parent, guardian, or emancipated youth mutually agreed upon approved activity. Unexcused daily absences
Any absence from school is unexcused unless it meets one of the criteria above for an excused absence.