Please send all absence, tardy, and early dismissal notes to the main office staff. A physical note can be sent in with the student or you can send an email to the SDSS at [email protected]

Early dismissal notes should be sent to our school secretary [email protected].

Notes should have the following included in the message:
• First and last name of the student
• Date of absence/tardy/early dismissal
• Parent/guardian contact information.

Please wait at least 2 school days to follow up on an absence, due to the volume of notes we receive the excuses can take some time to show up in the system.

Illness or Other Urgent Reasons: Upon receipt of satisfactory evidence of mental, physical or other urgent reasons, a parent’s written note will excuse a student’s absence. A maximum of ten (10) days of cumulative absences verified by parental notification may be permitted during a school year. All absences beyond ten (10) cumulative days require an excuse from a physician. For parenting students, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence of illness of the student’s child, related absences will be excused. All absence notes are to be turned into the main office. Notes received more than 3 days after the absence will not be accepted.

Health Care – A student may be excused during school hours to obtain non-school professional health care, including emergency care, hospitalization and/or quarantine. A parenting student may be excused during school hours to obtain non-school professional health care, including emergency care, hospitalization and/or quarantine for the student’s child. Documentation from the treating licensed health care professional shall be obtained and provided to the school.

Bereavement – A student may be temporarily excused from school for bereavement and/or to attend the funeral of a family member. All such excusals must be reported to and approved by the School Principal or his/her designee.

Religious Holidays and Religious Instruction – A student shall be excused from school for absences occasioned by the observance of the student’s religion recognized by the Board of Education as a bonafide religious holiday.

Weather Emergency – If a decision is made for schools to remain open, parents/guardians have the option to keep their children home for health and safety reasons. Parents/guardians are ultimately responsible for making this decision. If a parent decides to keep his or her child home in any situation, including inclement weather, he or she should call the school to report his or her child’s absence.

School-Approved Activities – A student absent from class or school due to participation in a school, Principal or teacher approved activity, including, but not limited to field trips, service learning, assemblies, support groups, counseling, mentoring, or tutoring shall be lawfully excused.

Administrator – Approved Excusals are: educational vacations, college visitation (2 days per year for Juniors and Seniors), counseling or support groups, or social service agency appointments including, but not limited to Children, Youth and Families.

A written explanation of the absence must be provided to the main office upon return to the school within three (3) days (please note that students may have 10 parent excused days for the entire school year and weather emergency absences are counted as parent excused days). Failure to provide a written explanation of the absence within three (3) days will result in an unlawful or unexcused absence.

Although not preferred, if you notify the school via Talking Points, please make sure the following are included in the message: 
Student Name
Parent/Guardian Name
Date of Absence

Please excuse my child___________________________  from school on the following dates:__________ . The absence was due  to:___________________________________________________
Parent Signature _________________________
Date ___________________________
Daytime Phone Number _________________