Attendance

Regular school attendance is essential to a student’s success in school. The activities that take place in the classroom are a vital part of the teaching and learning process and days lost from class can never be recaptured.

Most subjects are taught in sequence, requiring the understanding of each concept in the order of its presentation. Persistent absenteeism creates a genuine hardship for a student and is regarded as a very serious problem.

It is recognized that there are times when students cannot or should not attend school. Upon receiving notification from the parent/guardian, such absences are classified as excused absences.

Chronic Absenteeism

Beginning on July 1, 2018, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) now requires school districts and individual schools to document chronic absenteeism for its students.

This information on chronic absenteeism rates will now be publicly reported on school report cards and part of the calculation of the School Quality/Student Success Indicator which comprises 25% of a school’s overall Summative Designation.

A Summative Designation will be given to each school in the state of Illinois annually.

Chronic absenteeism can be defined as absences that total 10% or more of school days of the most recent academic year, including absences with and without valid cause and out of school suspensions.

The district will collect and review its chronic absence data and determine what systems of support and resources are needed to engage chronically absent students and their families to encourage daily attendance and promote success.

Tardy

Students are expected to arrive at school on time.

A student arriving at school after the start of school is required to report to the office before proceeding to the classroom.

Excessive tardies may result in student discipline and/or a report of truancy to the Regional Office of Education.

*Please refer to your individual school information regarding these activities.

Mental Health student Absences

Per Public Act 102-0266, students are allowed to be absent up to five days for mental or behavioral health reasons without needing to submit a medical note. Students shall be allowed to make up any school work missed.

Absences due to covid-19

Students who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 should not come to school. Students who are absent due to symptoms of COVID-19 will be excused; like with any communicable disease, students must be fever-free and not have experienced vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school.

Early Release / Parent Pick Up

Students will be released from school early only under special circumstances.

Parents are encouraged to make appointments at the beginning or end of the school day to minimize the amount of time taken from the school day.

It is the responsibility of the pupil to make up work missed during any absence from class. For the protection of the child, it is required that the parent pick him/her up in the school office and sign the student release book.

A student will not be dismissed during the school day unless a properly identified adult is present to pick up the student.

For safety and security reasons, a prior written or oral consent of a student’s custodial parent/guardian is required before a student is released during school hours: (1) at any time before the regular dismissal time or at any time before school is otherwise officially closed, and/or (2) to any person other than a custodial parent/guardian.

Excused Absence

The parent/guardian must notify the school if the student is absent from school for any reason. An absence shall be “excused” when a child is absent from school because of illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, situations beyond the control of the student as determined by the superintendent or designee, or other such circumstances which cause reasonable concern to the parent for the safety or health of the student.

The district discourages families from taking vacations when school is in session and does not classify vacation time as an excused absence.

However, the district recognizes that there are times when a family may opt to remove their children from school for purposes of vacation. Should that be the case, parents should contact their child’s principal to make necessary arrangements.

In the case of an extended illness, it will not be necessary to call the school every day; however, the school may require verification from a physician.

If the illness exceeds two weeks, provision for continuing the child’s instruction, including possible tutorial help, will be made. The district reserves the right to require documentation from a physician for any absences when a student has had excessive absences during the school year.

COVID-19 Mitigations

District 62 will continue to implement guidance issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health or the Illinois State Board of Education to the extent it is required to ensure a safe and healthy school environment.

Mitigation strategies such as increased school-wide cleaning and disinfection and adherence to hand-washing and respiratory etiquette will be uniformly observed throughout all district schools; additional mitigation strategies may be implemented if required by IDPH or ISBE. Additional mitigation strategies may also be implemented on a case-by-case basis if needed to maintain the health and safety of students and staff members in a particular school building or classroom.

Unexcused Absence

A student, who is identified as experiencing an attendance problem, shall be offered supportive services to include, but not be limited to, student-teacher conferences, parent conferences, individual counseling, family counseling, and information about community services that are available to the student and relevant to his/her needs.

In accordance with The School Code of Illinois, no punitive action, including out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, or court action shall be taken against a chronic truant for his or her truancy unless available supportive services and other school resources have been provided to the student.

Truancy

Busing

The district offers no-cost busing to students who live more than 1.5 miles from their school of attendance as calculated by the district’s Transportation Department or who have a state-approved hazardous crossing.

The district will offer an optional fee-based student busing program for students who do not qualify for the no-cost ridership if seats are available based on the number of buses First Student is able to provide. Bus fees are not eligible for a fee waiver

Failure to pay the bus fee will result in suspension of bus privileges. The district does not provide preferred pick-up at residences and all regular education students must meet their bus at a district designated community stop location. Should you require information regarding bus assignment, location of the bus stop and pick up times, please contact the school office.

Students are required to follow all school rules at the bus stop, as well as on the bus itself. Failure to do so can result in suspension of bus privileges and/or other consequences based on the nature of the offense. Students must only ride the bus to which they are assigned.

Emergency Weather Closings

It is sometimes necessary to close one, several, or all of the district school buildings due to an emergency. Inclement weather is usually the major cause of school closings; however, other emergencies such as power failures, heating problems, or water problems could occur at any time necessitating the closing of one or more schools.

E-Learning/Remote Learning Due to Weather-Related Closures

If schools are closed due to inclement weather, all District 62 schools will implement an e-learning day in which students will learn remotely with their teacher(s) and peers through a variety of online programs including but not limited to live instruction over Zoom.

Inclement Weather Announcements

When a determination is made that a school or schools should be closed to protect the health and safety of students, the information will be announced by the district’s automated notification system, and major radio and television stations. Announcements will also be displayed on the district’s website.

The district’s automated notification system allows the district to send important information quickly via phone and/or email about emergency situations, school delays or cancellations due to inclement weather. It also allows each school to contact parents about important school information and events, testing schedules, report card distribution, open houses, delayed buses, field trips, and more.

Parents are not required to register for the notification system. ALL parents and guardians of students enrolled in the school are automatically enrolled in this communication system. Parents must update changes in their mailing address, phone numbers or email by contacting their school secretary. Questions, comments, and concerns may also be directed to service@d62.org.

Announcements will also be displayed on the district’s website. The following media will carry school closing information:

Websites

District 62 – www.d62.org

The Chicago Tribune – emergencyclosingcenter.com

Radio

WGN – AM 720

WBBM – AM 780

WLS – AM 890

Television

WBBM CBS – Channel 2

WMAQ NBC – Channel 5

WLS ABC – Channel 7

WGN – Channel 9

WFLD Fox – Channel 32

The Emergency Closing Center, the organization that runs the emergencyclosingcenter.com website, offers an email alert service. District 62 families can receive email notifications via email of district closings the moment they are reported.

These email notifications are especially useful when the emergencyclosingcenter.com website is experiencing heavy website traffic. To sign up for this service, please visit emergencyclosingcenter.com, click the E-mail Notification tab, and fill in the requested information. District 62’s Facility Name is DIST #62 and the city is DES PLAINES. The decision to close school is made one day at a time.

Check daily to find out if your child’s school will be open.

Please discuss with your child the possibilities that might occur and what is expected when District 62 announces an emergency school closing. You are encouraged to develop a plan with your child should a school closing announcement be made after you have left for work, or if you are unable to be home when your child returns home following an emergency school closing.

District 62 makes every effort to keep all schools open throughout the school year. During inclement weather, when schools are open, a parent/guardian makes the final decision whether their child will attend school should weather conditions be considered too severe for a child to travel to and from school.

Should you have any questions about this announcement, please contact your child’s principal or call the superintendent’s office at 847-824-1170.

Emergency School Closures Due to Other Emergencies

Early Dismissal Due to Weather Emergencies

Typically, the district does not dismiss school early in case of severe weather. If school authorities believe a violent storm is imminent, students and buses may be held until danger passes.

At no time will students be sent home early to avoid being in school during a storm. In such circumstances, children are safer remaining in school. Students may be dismissed a few minutes early if weather conditions are such that buses may operate safely, but it will take longer than normal to deliver students to bus stops.

E-Learning/Remote Learning Due to Weather-Related Closures

Inclement Weather Announcements

Parents are not required to register for the notification system. ALL parents and guardians of students enrolled in the school are automatically enrolled in this communication system.

Parents must update changes in their mailing address, phone numbers or email by contacting their school secretary.

Questions, comments, and concerns may also be directed to service@d62.org.

Announcements will also be displayed on the district's website. The following media will carry school closing information.

Websites:

District 62 - www.d62.org

The Chicago Tribune - emergencyclosingcenter.com

Radio:

WGN - AM 720

WBBM - AM 780

WLS - AM 890

The Emergency Closing Center

Learn More

Learn More

The Emergency Closing Center, the organization that runs the emergencyclosingcenter.com website, offers an email alert service. District 62 families can receive email notifications via email of district closings the moment they are reported. These email notifications are especially useful when the emergencyclosingcenter.com website is experiencing heavy website traffic.

To sign up for this service, please visit emergencyclosingcenter.com, click the E-mail Notification tab, and fill in the requested information. District 62’s Facility Name is DIST #62 and the city is DES PLAINES.

The decision to close school is made one day at a time.

Check daily to find out if your child’s school will be open.

Should you have any questions about this announcement, please contact your child’s principal or call the superintendent’s office at

847-824-1170.

Arrival and dismissal

Middle Schools

8:00am to 3:00pm Tuesday – Friday

Mondays are early dismissal at 2:45pm

Supervision of students begins at 7:45am

Office closes at 4:00pm