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Attendance & Absence

Call 541-259-8800

It is important that you notify the school when your student is absent. Call 541-259-8800 and leave a voicemail at any time, or send a message via ParentSquare, or email your teacher. In your voicemail or message, please include the name of your student, the date of the absence, and a reason for the absence.

Our attendance records must be reported to the state, and absences are “coded” with a reason. When we do not know a reason, we must list the absence as unexcused. Inform us if you anticipate a longer absence (e.g., recovery after an injury, a trip, etc.). 

The following are acceptable reasons for excused absences, per School Board Policy JED:

  • Illness, medical or dental appointments; 
  • Serious illness or death in the immediate family;
  • Religious observances; and/or
  • Pre-arranged, approved in advance by the principal (see form above)

These are not acceptable reasons for excused absences:

  • Truancy; 
  • Oversleeping; 
  • Missing the bus or car malfunction; 
  • Shopping/haircut appointments; 
  • Family vacations, hunting or fishing excursions not approved in advance; and/or
  • Birthdays, family visiting or other celebrations

Besides losing time from learning because of an absence or tardy, research has shown that many who attend school irregularly develop the same practices in work and elsewhere in life. Furthermore, students who enter a classroom after being absent or tardy can feel disconnected, behind on their work, and increasingly overwhelmed. 

Knowing that absences and tardy arrivals are generally not tolerated in the work force and that students develop those habits through the school years, Lebanon High School considers 16 periods of unexcused absence in a four-day period as excessive and irregular. If a student continues to show irregular attendance, then the Linn-Benton Attendance Officer will be notified, which may result in legal proceedings being implemented as suggested by ORS 339.020 as written below:

“Every person having control of any child between the ages of 6-18 years who has not completed the 12th grade is required to send such a child to, and maintain the child in, regular school attendance at a public full-time school during the entire school term.”

OAR 581-023-0006 requires a school district to remove a student from enrollment after ten (10) days of consecutive absences, excused or unexcused. Once a student has been withdrawn from enrollment, their school email and Canvas account will not be accessible.