Skip To Main Content

District Home

Attendance

School Attendance

Attending school regularly is very important if students want to succeed in school. Georgia law requires that all children between the ages of six and sixteen attend school unless they have a lawful reason to be absent. In addition, students under the age of six who have been on roll for twenty or more days fall under the provision of the Georgia Mandatory Attendance Law, O.C. G. A20-2-150(c).

See page 8 in East Lake Family Guide for detailed information related to attendance. 

Students who have more than five days of unexcused absences during the school year will be considered truant.  The legal penalties for truancy include referral of students to Juvenile Court and referral of parents to State Court. 

Excused Absences

Absences will be treated as excused if they occur for the following reasons (additional documentation, such as medical documentation, may be required by the principal or designee):

  1. Student illness that would endanger the student’s health or the health of others
  2. Serious illness or death in the student’s immediate family which would reasonably necessitate absence from school, in the determination of the principal or designee
  3. A scheduled medical, dental or eye examination
  4. Special and recognized religious holidays observed by the student’s faith
  5. An inability to attend school due to weather or other conditions making school attendance impossible or unreasonably hazardous
  6. Attendance upon a trip or event having significant educational value, provided the principal is notified of the absence in advance and she determines the trip or event is of significant educational value.
  7. Unusual or urgent circumstances requiring the student’s parents to be outside Henry County overnight, and where the parents determine that it would be in the student’s best interest to accompany them. If prior notice is not given, a written explanation is to be provided no later than the first day of school after the absence.
  8. Take Your Child to Work Day. Students who participate in this event will be excuse, but will be counted absent.
  9. To visit with a parent serving in the armed forces of the United States or the National Guard. If such parent has been called to duty or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, a student shall be granted excused absences, up to five school days per school year,  for the purpose of visiting his/her parent.

Unexcused Absences

An absence that does not qualify as excused is an unexcused absence.  Parents are encouraged to carefully and frequently monitor student’s attendance through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and contact the school immediately with any questions about the attendance record.  Unexcused absences will be subject to attendance investigation and can result in penalty as imposed by the Georgia’s compulsory attendance law.