Attendance

Westlake Academy recognizes the value and importance of school attendance in educating your students. With the passing of House Bill 2398, truancy proceedings are handled in civil court. Schools are required to provide a written warning to parents at the beginning of the school year informing them that if the student is absent from school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period or 3 days within a four week period in the same school year, that the parent/guardian may be subject to criminal prosecution and, as mentioned, the student is subject to referral to a truancy court for truant conduct. 

Parents are required to provide accurate and updated contact information to the school through their settings in Power School. Log in to Power School here: Power School Log In.

Westlake Academy will follow the Texas Education Agency compulsory attendance laws as follows: 

The Power School system is Westlake Academy’s method of communicating attendance notifications. If you need assistance with your Power School Parent Portal, please email us at portal@westlakeacademy.org .

• In order to improve the student's overall attendance, a student will be issued a warning notice when attendance records reflect that the student has absences without an excuse (as outlined in the Parent Student Handbook) on 3 days or parts of days in a 4-week period. Further, the parent/guardian will receive a request to attend a conference with the student for the purpose of addressing truancy prevention measures for students who exhibit attendance issues. (Texas Education Code 25.087 & 25.0915) 

• As stated in Texas attendance laws, if a student is absent from school without an excuse on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period or 3 days within a 4 week period in the same school year and those absences have been verified by the campus as unexcused, students 12 and older may be referred to the prosecutor of the truancy court. At this point, the court could also file a criminal complaint against parents who contribute to the nonattendance of their child, regardless of their child's age. (Texas Education Code 25.093) 

Unless otherwise exempted by the Principal(s), students must be in attendance at least 90% of the school days according to the Texas Education Agency. Both excused and unexcused absences affect the 90% attendance requirement. Parent cooperation is vital in the matter of school attendance and punctuality. Parents should: 

• Ensure your child arrives and is picked up on time each day.
• Schedule routine medical and dental appointments after school hours when possible. If an appointment is necessary during school hours, medical/ dental excuses can be delivered to the PYP or Secondary offices.
• Schedule family vacations during the school’s vacation days and notify the school prior to any planned absence (please refer to your Parent Student Handbook for additional details on travel and attendance policy.)
• Inform the attendance office via email at attendance@westlakeacademy.org or by phone at 817.490.5757, select (3) for attendance line on the day the absence occurs, before 3:00pm. 

Should you or your student need special assistance or are experience extenuating circumstances, you may contact your student's Principal. Your child's presence in school is a strong indicator of his/her future success.

Career Investigation Documentation Form

Westlake Academy Absence Policy

Any absence that the district doesn't receive funding for is considered an unexcused absence.

Excused absences include a doctor's appointment or extended absences that are cleared by a doctor's note, a court appearance, a state-approved religious holiday, testing, In-School-Suspension, military appointments (situational), INS appointments, Junior and Senior college visits, district-approved school activities or another state approved reason as listed in the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook. A funeral is technically an unexcused absence, but it will not be used against seat time or truancy. Documentation is required for all excusable absences. If you have questions about acceptable documentation, please contact the attendance office.

When parents email to notify us that their student will not be in school for any reason other than what is listed as an excused absence above, the absence will be coded as Unexcused with Parent Approval.   A parent note lets us know that they are aware that the student is not present at school. Parent approved absences will count against seat time, and may also count towards truancy if they are excessive. 

Medical Absences Documentation for Official Attendance Funding Periods 

Students who are at a medical appointment during our official attendance time can be marked as present for state funding purposes as long as the student is on campus the rest of the day.  Documentation from the provider’s office must be received within 10 school days of the appointment for the absence to be changed to a Medical Absence and the student to be counted as present

Medical Documentation for Full Day Excused Absences

Medical absences will be marked as Excused as long as the parent provides a physician’s note within 10 days of the absence. It is important that all absent dates are listed on the documentation as we can only excuse the dates that are provided on the note. If the student misses a day of school because he/she is sick but doesn't see a doctor until the next day, you can ask the doctor to provide all previous, current, and future absent dates on the note.

If a doctor's note states that a student may be excused from school for 5 days, but the student returns on the 3rd day, he/she may not miss school on the 4th & 5th day. Once a student returns to school, the doctor's note is canceled, and a new note will be needed for any further excused absences.

The doctor's note can be dropped off at the front desk or emailed to the attendance office.  Teachers do not need a copy unless you want them to have it.

College Visit Absences for Juniors and Seniors

Juniors and Seniors are allowed two Excused College Visit days per year. College visit excuses must be on college letterhead and list the day(s) the student visited the school. (We do not accept email confirmations, visit itineraries or business cards to count the absence as excused.). Additional Junior/Senior college visits are technically unexcused but will not be used against seat time or truancy. Travel time for college visits is NOT excused and will be coded as an absence with parent approval. 

College Visits, Career Exploration and Military Enlistment

Junior and Senior students are allowed up to two days' absences related to visiting a college or university or engaging in a career exploration experience. These absences will be considered excused for compulsory attendance provided that the student submits proof to verify the visit and make up all work missed.

An absence will also be considered excused if a student 17 years of age or older is pursuing enlistment in a branch of the U.S. armed services or Texas National Guard, provided the absence does not exceed four days during the period the student is enrolled in high school and the student provides verification to the district of these activities.

Tardies/Early Release

Students who arrive late to a class or leave early will be counted as Absent if they miss more than 30% of class time. 

Truancy

All absences including Parent Approved Unexcused Absences may lead to truancy. Students who have 10+ unexcused absences of any kind are considered truant. 

Truancies are handled through the Assistant Principal's office.

Westlake Academy Attendance Procedures 2024 - 2025
More details are available in the Parent & Student Handbook

Absences

A parent/guardian must email (attendance@westlakeacademy.org) the WA attendance office any day (or duration) that their student will not be in school. This requirement is in addition to any communication a student may share with their teachers. If the absence is due to a medical appointment, religious observance, court appearance or day-of driver’s permit/license, please provide the written excuse/documentation to the attendance office.

Arrivals

Students must enter classrooms by 7:50 am. Students must sign in at the front office if

they arrive any time after 7:50 am – even if it is during a passing period or lunchtime - to receive a pass. If a student arrives less than 30 minutes late for any block – they receive a tardy. If arrival is greater than 30 minutes, the student is absent for the entire block (per TEA state code). In this case, WA needs a parent/guardian note or phone call, or a written excuse from an appointment documenting the absence. 

Early Dismissals

Parents/guardians must physically sign their student out at the front office for an early dismissal. If someone other than a parent/guardian is picking up the student, that person must be on the emergency contact list in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. If they are not, please provide their name and WA will copy their driver’s license before we release the student. Early dismissals are available until 2:30 pm each day. Students cannot be released after 2:30pm.

Students with Cars on Campus

With written parent/guardian notice, 10th - 12th graders may sign themselves out for early dismissal. Please follow these guidelines: A parent/guardian writes a note or email that includes:

~ Name of student (first and last)

~ Date of departure

~ Time of dismissal

~ Signature of parent/guardian signature

~ Phone of parent/guardian

In the morning, the student brings the parent/guardian notice to the attendance office in exchange for an early dismissal slip. At the approved time, the student shows the dismissal slip to their teacher and walks down to the attendance office to sign out. 

WA Attendance Contact Info: 817-490-5757 or Attendance@westlakeacademy.org

TEA 90% Attendance Rule

More details are available in the Parent/Student Handbook

Per TEA State code, there is a 90% attendance rule requirement for students. Kindergarten - 5th Grade students can still meet the 90% if they only miss up to 18 days for the school year. If a student misses more than this - they now owe the state a make-up hours in order to bring their attendance back up to 90%. Student attendance is always available under their profile in the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

TEA 90% Attendance Rule

More details are available in the Parent & Student Handbook

Per TEA State code, there is a 90% attendance rule requirement for students. 6th grade - 12th grade students can still meet the 90% if they only miss up to 4 absences per-period, per-semester. If a student misses a period the 5th time – they now owe the state a make-up hour in order to bring their attendance back up to 90%. Student attendance is always available under their profile in the PowerSchool Parent Portal.