IHMS Attendance Policy
Attendance
Regular attendance and participation at school are the keys to success at IHMS. Each student is expected to be in class every period of the day unless properly excused by a parent/guardian. Frequent absences of students from the day-to-day classroom experiences disrupt the instructional process. The benefits of instruction, once lost, are difficult to regain. The process of education requires a continuity of instruction, class participation, learning exp erience, and study. When students miss more than 10% of school days, they are considered chronically absent. Research shows that chronic absenteeism results in reduced academic performance. Students are expected to be in attendance and complete their assigned work every school day in order to receive maximum benefit from their educational experience.
The Utah Compulsory Attendance law (53A-11-101), and CSD’s attendance Policy 500.35, directs parents to require their children between the ages of six to eighteen to attend every official school day and for schools to actively promote regular attendance. Therefore, Indian Hills Middle School has developed a policy that adheres to Canyons School District’s and Utah’s legal guidelines. (Ref. Utah Code 53A-15-1403)
RESPONSIBILITIES of STUDENTS
- Students are expected to be prepared and be on time to class every school day in order to maximize educational opportunities.
- When a student is absent from school for any reason, it is their responsibility to contact teachers regarding makeup work.
- Students and parents are responsible for tracking their academic progress and attendance by using Skyward on a weekly basis.
RESPONSIBILITIES of PARENT/GUARDIAN
- Parent/Guardian is responsible for his/her children’s regular school attendance.
- When a student is absent from any period during the school day, the parent/guardian shall call the Attendance Office for a guardian excused absence. This does not mean that a parent can excuse a student who is verified truant during the school day.
- The parent/guardian is responsible for tracking his/her student’s academic progress and attendance by using Skyward on a weekly basis.
RESPONSIBILITIES of SCHOOL PERSONNEL
- Teachers are expected to record and verify student attendance daily.
- Teachers shall be in their classrooms on time and shall provide meaningful educational activities every day starting when the bell rings to encourage both attendance and punctuality.
- Administrators and office personnel will work cooperatively with students and parents/guardians to encourage positive school attendance and will notify parents when tardies or unexcused absences become excessive.
Procedure for Absence Excusal
When students are absent, the parent or guardian must call the Attendance Office at 801-826-7111 within five days to excuse the absence. If students go to the doctor during school hours and/or are absent from school as a result of illness, please notify the Attendance Office.
When students are excused as absent, they are still responsible for doing the assigned work. Students will be expected to obtain and complete work from their teacher within the timeframe outlined in the school-wide disclosure. A student’s academic grade should not be penalized for guardian-excused absences.
Students will be able to access Canvas and stay engaged in their learning during these absences. If necessary, the student may contact the individual teacher for assistance or additional information.
Procedures for Check In/Out
If students arrive after 8:15 A.M., they must check in with the Attendance Office. When students must leave school during the day, their parents/guardians must come into the school to check them out. Any person checking out a student must show a picture ID. Only the parents or legal guardians may approve students to be checked out from school. Students may be released to others listed in Skyward only after the parent or guardian has given direct approval, and then that individual must come into the Attendance Office. If the student leaves school without officially checking out, he/she is considered truant. A student forfeits the opportunity to make up any missed work, including tests, if verified as truant. If a child is not to be released to a non-custodial parent/guardian listed in Skyward, it is the custodial parent’s responsibility to notify the Attendance Office and provide proof of a protective order or court order. If a court order is lifted, the custodial parent must provide a copy of the court order to the Attendance Office. Exceptions to this policy will only be made by school administration.
Procedure for Educational/Vacation Leave
Students may apply for up to 10 days of educational/vacation leave per school year prior to the absences. A parent must call the Attendance Office before students can receive an Educational Leave Form. Once the student obtains the form from the Attendance Office, he/she must complete the form and return it before leaving on vacation. This form must be completed before the event. Students can access school work on Canvas during these times.
Procedures for Additional Situations
Parents/guardians Dropping off food/drinks: Should you wish to drop off lunch or a drink to your student, please do so at the beginning of your student’s lunchtime. Please bring the delivery into the front office rather than having your student come outside the school. Our bell schedule with lunch times is posted on our website.) We do not deliver food items to students during or between classes since food and drink is not allowed in the classroom or hallways. This policy helps our front office to focus their attention on positive customer service to our patrons rather than managing food deliveries throughout the day. Also, we will not allow students to meet Doordash delivery service drivers during the school day either in the office or on school grounds. Because we want to ensure the safety of students and we do not know the adults who work for such delivery services, we do not allow adults who are not listed in Skyward or who are not approved through the district’s volunteer system to interface with our students. Any such deliveries made by delivery services will be disposed of.
Parents eating lunch at school with students: We are glad that parents want to spend time with students at lunch during the school day. However, we have had incidents in the past with parents who may or may not have been approved through the district’s volunteer system interacting with other students without supervision. Because this can create issues with such students, we ask that parents check in at the Main Office and sit ONLY with their student in a designated area. The school continues to review ways to provide opportunities for parents to come to our school for lunch and for other activities because we value parent involvement in our school.
Emergency Contact Information
In order for us to reach parents in an emergency, please keep information on Skyward updated or submit changes of address, phone numbers, and email addresses to the Attendance Office.
Home and Hospital
When a doctor writes an order for a student to be out of school for over 10 days, a parent needs to contact the student’s assistant principal to arrange for home and hospital services. Parents or guardians will need to take the Home and Hospital form to the student’s doctor. The doctor fills out the form. Parents can return the form to school, or the doctor’s office can scan or fax the form to IHMS. The fax number is 801-826-7109.
Citizenship and Attendance
It is important that students are on time to class in order to receive full instructional benefits. Excessive tardies will result in classroom and/or school consequences. Tardies are also a part of a student’s citizenship grade:
- H = 1 tardy
- S = 2-3 tardies
- N = 4-6 tardies (Intervention Process is activated—see outline below.)
- U = 7+ tardies (Intervention Process continues—see outline below.)
Intervention Strategies & Chronic Absenteeism
Students are expected to attend school daily and to go to class on time. Should students exceed four tardies in any class during any term, an intervention process will take effect which may include check-ins in the Main Office, tardy trackers, meeting(s) with administration, lunch detention(s), or additional support to promote positive attendance.
The Intervention Process begins once a student exceeds four tardies in any class. (The total number of tardies in each class resets each term):
Outline of Attendance Intervention Steps:
- Meeting with Attendance Office personnel to review expectations (5 tardies)
- Parent Contact by Attendance Office/Administration (6 tardies)
- In-person meeting with student, parent, and school administration to create a support plan (7+ tardies)
- Review support plan with parent, student, and administration (or designee), which may include loss of privileges (lunch detention), implementation of a tracker, service to the school, a referral to the wellness team or the SST, etc.
- Referral to district truancy specialist and/or peer court.
For additional attendance support due to chronic absenteeism, the following interventions may be applied:
- Students may be identified through weekly attendance reports and the Student Support Team (which includes administration, the wellness team, student MTSS mentor, and selected teachers). The SST will also review early warning systems (EWS) data regularly to identify students who may need supports.
- Administrative conferences with students and parents and wellness staff.
- The Canyons Family Center may be used as a resource for students and their families for wellness support, including classes and individual counseling: https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/depts/student-wellness-services/canyons-family-center/
- Sandy City School Resource Officers (SRO’s) may also work with students and families regarding the impact of truancy on a student’s education.
- District resources for chronic absenteeism are available upon request or on the Canyons District website under Student Wellness Services.
Withdrawal from School
When students move outside the school boundaries, they should withdraw from Indian Hills Middle. This process includes obtaining a withdrawal sheet from the Attendance Office, receiving clearance from each teacher, returning the school issued Chromebook, all books, cleaning out lockers, and paying any fines. Failure to complete all of these steps will result in a delay releasing student records enabling the student to enroll in their new school.
Attendance Codes:
- A = unexcused absence
- G = guardian excused absence
- T = tardy
- W = way late tardy (more than ten minutes late to class)
- VT = verified truancy
- CI/CO = Check in/check out
- S = suspension
- HH = Home & Hospital
- N = school-excused activity
Policy Reviewed and Updated August 2025*