Attendance Policy Overview
The Chelsea Public Schools Attendance Officer is Mr. Phillip Carangelo who may be contacted at 617.466.5043. All students must attend school regularly if they are to earn a diploma or certificate of attendance. We expect that students will miss no more than eight (8) days during the entire 180- day school year. It is important that both students and parents understand the details of the attendance policy explained in this section. A student may have no more than two (2) unexcused absences during each quarter. If a student has three (3) or more unexcused absences in a quarter, consequences will apply. Important Attendance Definitions Consequences for Unexcused Absences An unexcused absence will result in the student losing the privilege of participating in any after school activity, including but not limited to athletic games and practices, dances, club activities and all other extracurricular events. If the unexcused absence occurs the day before a weekend or holiday, the loss of privileges includes any school activity or event that takes place during the holiday and or weekend. Students will receive a ten (10) point penalty in their average for any class in which they have three (3) or more unexcused absences. Changing an Impacted Grade to Original Grade If a student’s grade is impacted by this policy, they will have one opportunity to change the grade to its original grade as long as the class continues on to the next quarter. To earn their original grade, a student must have no more than two (2) unexcused absences in the quarter after their grade was impacted. Example 1: If a student has earned an average of 75% for the 1st quarter in a World History class, but has three (3) unexcused absences, the student’s 1st quarter average will be reported as 65%. If at the conclusion of the 2nd quarter the student has two (2) or fewer unexcused absences, the 1st quarter grade will change from 65% to a 75% in the World History class. Example 2: If a student has earned a letter grade of 65% for the 1st quarter in their Algebra 1 class, but has three (3) or more unexcused absences, the student’s 1st quarter grade will be reported as an 60%. If in the 2nd quarter the student again has three (3) or more unexcused absences the average of 60% will appear for both the 1st and 2nd quarters. If a student has three (3) or more unexcused absences in the 4th quarter, there is no opportunity to raise the impacted averages. Unexcused Absence Rules Applicable to All Quarters. 1. Students cannot recover grades for the 4th quarter of full-year courses, or for courses shorter than a semester (quarter-length electives). 2. Students cannot recover grades for the 2nd quarter of half-year (semester-length) courses. The Principal or a designated representative can excuse an absence, under the guidelines listed below, provided a parent or guardian submits a written or verbal request for an absence to be excused. The Principal will accept parent...