Attendance Procedures

Attendance policies and procedures

Attendance

FCPS regulations require that all absences be verified. You may verify an absence:

Please verify all absences by 9:15 a.m. if your child will be absent or late. Please leave specific information about the nature of your child’s illness, (fever/cough/sore throat/ headache/vomiting/diarrhea )and a diagnosis if your child has been seen by a doctor.

Student Absence

Be specific about the reason why your child will not be attending school today.

Please indicate whether your child has any of the following symptoms:

  • Feeling feverish or chills
  • Fever greater than or equal to 100.4 F
  • Headache (not due to another health condition, hunger, menstrual cramps stress, or injury)
  • A new cough (not due to another health condition)
  • Shortness of breath or breathing difficulties (not due to diagnosed respiratory condition or if different than normal pattern of chronic condition)
  • A new sore throat (not due to another health condition)
  • Congestion or runny nose (not related to allergies or health condition)
  • Fatigue (more tired than normal or sudden onset)
  • New muscle pain (not due to another health condition or that may have been caused by a specific activity such as physical exercise))
  • New loss of taste, smell, or appetite
  • Abdominal pain (not due to hunger, constipation, injury, or stress)
  • Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

Non Illness Related Absence

For absences that are not illness related (trips, family emergencies, planned medical procedures, please fill out the Request for Prearranged absence form and submit to the teacher who will forward to the office.  

For all students who have resided in a foreign country included on the High TB Burden Country List 2018, (see table below) for a consecutive period of four weeks, one of the following is required:

  • Evidence of a negative tuberculin skin test (TST) or Quantiferon TB Gold blood test (QFT) and a negative symptom screen completed within 90 calendar days prior to registration, certified by a licensed physician or department of health.
  • Evidence of a normal (negative) chest X-ray taken within 90 calendar days prior to registration.
  • Documentation of a negative symptom screen and risk assessment from the health department or private physician for students who present written documentation of having completed treatment for latent tuberculosis infection or TB disease.

Note: For the purpose of re-enrollment in FCPS, persons returning from temporary (greater than four weeks) trips outside the United States will be required to be screened for tuberculosis.

High TB Burden Country List 2018*

Persons from countries with a high TB incidence (20/100,000) should be screened for TB and TB infection. Persons from countries not found on this list should only be tested if they are symptomatic or have an individual risk factor for TB infection or progression to TB disease. (Data obtained from 2017 WHO Global Tuberculosis Report and reflects 2016 data).

See the FCPS Registration Site for more information and a list of High TB Burden countries.

Late Arrival

The parent/guardian must accompany the child to the office and sign him/her in on the orange sheet. Office staff will give the student a late pass (T) and escort him or her to class.

Early Release of Students (appointments)

Send a written note/email to the teacher no later than 8:45 a.m. of that same day when your child must leave early. If it is via email, please copy the attendance email.

Parent or designee must come to the main office (prepared to show ID) and sign student out on the green sheet. Parent must sign student in upon return. Office staff will walk student back to class.

Students are not permitted to walk home alone during the school day or from after-school activities.