Attendance & Absences

Bend-La Pine Schools - Attendance Philosophy

Each day, as we open our school doors, we have an opportunity to connect and build positive relationships with our students & families while helping set the tone for students to enter our classrooms ready to learn. We will all work to ensure that our schools are welcoming spaces and that we model acceptance and empathy at all times.

We will demonstrate to our families that we are happy to have their students attending school while also having an appropriate level of concern if they are late to or missing school.

Improving school attendance is not a "thing" to accomplish - This effort is ongoing and collaborative. This is OUR work (students, families, school staff, administration, district office & our Central Oregon community).

There are many factors that may contribute to students dropping below the 90% average attendance goal - Below are three primary root causes of chronic absenteeism:

Family Circumstances

Lack of Sense of Belonging

Academic Engagement and/or Struggles

If support is needed for any of these reasons (or any others), please reach out to your child's school for help & support - We are here to help!

OUR Bend-La Pine Schools Attendance Efforts

Attendance FYIs

10-Day Inactivation

Oregon State Law requires that we withdraw (inactivate) students who miss 10 consecutive days of school. If a student is absent for any reason for 10 consecutive days, they will be withdrawn from school and will have to re-enroll when they return.

This is not a punishment! We are required by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to do this. If your child is inactivated, please connect with your school and we will get your child re-enrolled ASAP to get them back into school.

Excused Absences

Oregon Law states that the school, not the parent, determines which absences, other than illness or family emergency, should be excused. Under the rules of ORS 339.065, the following are legal reasons for an absence to be excused:

A student's sickness (including the mental or behavioral health of the student)
The sickness of a student's family member
An emergency
Dentist, doctor, or court appointment

Note #1: Families have 48 hours to make contact to excuse an absence

Note #2: When calling in an absence, it is best to call your school's attendance line directly.

Overall: We are appreciative of your communication when you call or Email to report an absence! You can also report full-day absences via ParentVue as well.

Late to School

Attendance/Chronic Absenteeism (ODE)

Bend-La Pine Schools

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