Absences/Homework Requests

• Please be aware you will receive notification in the form of automated calls and/or letters from the school if there are attendance concerns. (This may include notification for tardiness and early dismissal.) These automated messages help us send timely communication to you when students are not present at school as expected. The automated calls are scheduled daily at 10:00 am and 2:30 p.m.

• Additionally, we are required by state law and Board policy to accurately take, track and report attendance to address and prevent truancy issues. Per Franklin Public Schools Board Policy 5100, “parents or guardians may excuse a student for up to ten (10) total days” which includes all absences that are not medically excused with documentation from a doctor. For example, pre-planned, illness, and vacation absences are included within the 10 days. Wisconsin state statutes defines habitual truant as “a pupil who is absent from school without an acceptable excuse … for part or all of five (5) or more days on which school is held during a school semester.”

• To promote good communication between FHS and families, we will send additional notification when:

• Your student has five or more unexcused absences.
• Your student has reached eight parent excused absences. This notification lets you know that you are nearing the maximum ten days allowed per school year.
• Your student has reached ten parent excused absences. This notification lets you know that you have reached the ten days allowed and future absences will be considered unexcused.

These additional notifications are not intended to question your reasons for keeping your student out of school, but rather, they are meant to make you aware of the amount of school that has been missed and open up communication with the school to work together to improve attendance.

• We will also communicate with students directly when we have attendance concerns. When students arrive late to school (unexcused) or if they are late to class during the day, students are sent to the office and an unexcused tardy is documented, with students immediately receiving a written notification of the number of unexcused tardies they have acquired during the semester. A warning is issued for the first four unexcused tardies. After four unexcused tardies, students receive a 45 minute detention for each unexcused tardy acquired. This process and related disciplinary actions reset at the beginning of each semester.

• For every unexcused absence from a class, our administrative team checks in with students the following school day to better understand why the student missed school. Depending on individual circumstances, our student services and administrative team may meet with students regularly to support positive school attendance. Students must serve an hour of detention for every class block for which they are marked unexcused absent.

We are committed to working with your student every day to provide the highest-quality education possible. Please feel free to contact us throughout the school year if attendance is going to be a concern for your student. We can work together to find solutions and support the best possible attendance for our students.

NEW FOR 2020-21 SCHOOL YEAR - All Absences should be reported using THIS FORM.  This helps us to better collect and track data in the event of a COVID-19 case. 

• Your student may bring a note to the front office (attendance) in the morning and he/she will receive a pass which will allow him/her to leave class at the specified time. In this case, you will not need to enter the building, your student will sign out in the front office using their Student ID and the early dismissal pass and will leave FHS.

• If your student did not bring a note and you are calling for an early dismissal, plan to come to the office at least five minutes early to fill out the necessary paperwork. We will call your student out of class at that time and he/she will sign out at the attendance desk.

• NEW FOR 2020-21:  With all classes having a digital platform associated with the class (either Buzz or Google Classroom), the student should access that platform for any lessons or materials for the class.  
• Please follow up with the teacher for any other homework request needs.