Submitting an Absence Excuse

If your student is absent from school, you DO NOT NEED TO CALL the attendance office. You may submit a parent note below or send a note in with your student when they return to school.  You can now submit parent notes for absences using the  WHS Absence Note Form.  This form may only be used for ALL DAY absences.

Early dismissals should still be processed through the front office, and will require a note to be submitted the morning of the dismissal. 

 

PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT CHANGES TO ATTENDANCE RULES FOR THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR

GCS new attendance policy states that any absences in excess of 5 per semester WILL NOT be excused without medical documentation. We strongly encourage parents and students to review the Attendance guidelines in the WHS Student Handbook or on the Greenville County Schools website. 

Attendance Information:  

  • ATTENDANCE: Attendance is taken each class period throughout the day. Students are considered absent from a period if they miss more than half of that period. 
  • TRUANCY: A student is considered truant when he/she accumulates three consecutive or five total unexcused absences over the course of the year.
  • PARENT NOTES: Only the first five parent notes per semester will be coded "Parent Note."  All subsequent parent notes will be coded "Unexcused."
  • ABSENCE NOTES: Students have three (3) school days after returning to school from an absence to turn in absence notes (this includes medical notes, parent notes, college visit notes, bereavement documentation, etc.)  Notes turned in after three days from the student's return to school will not be coded and are considered unlawful absences.  

School Attendance

Students are counted present only when they are actually in school and in class, on homebound instruction, or present at an activity authorized by the school principal.

School Absence Policy

Absences are defined as either lawful (excused) or unlawful (unexcused). The school year consists of 180 school days. Students must attend 85 days of each 90-day semester course and 170 days of each 180-day year course to receive credit.

LAWFUL ABSENCE:

  1. Personal illness of a child shall be verified by a statement from a physician within two (2) days of the student’s return to school. Absences for chronic or extended illness will be approved only when verified by a physician’s statement.
  2. Serious illness or death of an immediate family member shall be verified by a statement from the doctor within two (2) days of the student’s return to school. 
  3. Absences for religious holidays shall be requested in advance. Such requests must be made to the principal in writing. 
  4. Absences for extreme hardships may be approved by the principal. Such approval should be pre-arranged.

UNLAWFUL ABSENCE:

Any student absent, with or without the knowledge of the parent, which does not meet the conditions for a lawful absence shall be counted as unlawful and will not be excused. ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL and ADMISSION to CLASSES after ABSENCES—It is expected that a written note from the parent/guardian accompany the student upon their return to school from any absence. This note should be taken to the Attendance Office IMMEDIATELY upon arrival on campus from the absence. The note MUST contain the following items:

  1. The exact reason for the absence. Please be specific on illnesses… “upset stomach,” “severe headache,” “sore throat,” “nausea,” etc. We will not accept “…was not feeling well.”
  2. Dates of the days of the absence. 
  3. Signature of the parent/guardian WITH A PHONE NUMBER WHERE YOU CAN BE REACHED DURING THE DAY.

EXTENDED ILLNESSES:

Students and parents should be keenly aware of the opportunity to obtain “Homebound” instruction should he/she have to miss school for any extended length of time. Once a parent or student realizes he/she will be out for an extended length of time, he/she can apply for a “Homebound” instructor to visit the home 5 hours per week to keep the student abreast of his/her studies. The parent or student should contact his/her counselor immediately for such services (see phone numbers at front of handbook). Medical homebound instruction cannot be approved until a physician certifies that the student is medically unable to attend school, even with the aid of transportation, but may profit from instruction. Therefore, a note from the doctor specifying the need for the student to be out for extended time must be produced to potentially authorize the service. The superintendent of the school district, or his or her designee, must then approve or deny the medical homebound instruction request.

Early Dismissals:

In order to be dismissed from school early, a student must bring a written note from a parent to the Front Office at the beginning of the day. The note must have a phone number that is on file with the school. The student will not be dismissed if a parent can not be reached. An early dismissal slip will be written and the student should drop by the FRONT OFFICE during class change to pick up the slip. This slip authorizes the student to leave school at the designated time. Students will be allowed to leave school for early dismissals at class change only. REMINDER: Classes missed for an early dismissal count toward the first 5 days of allowable absences in any one class. Therefore, early dismissals after the 5th absence must be lawful (excused). Any student returning from an early dismissal must bring the yellow dismissal slip to attendance to obtain an admit slip. Phone calls for an early dismissal will not be accepted (this includes parent phone calls).

Tardy Policy:

The following are acceptable as “Excused Tardy”

  • Medical appointment (must have note from doctor)
  • Court appearance (note from court summons)
  • Administrative approval