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Attendance

Excused Absences

Absences are marked excused for the following reasons:

  • Personal Illness
  • Illness in the family
  • Quarantine of the home - see updated health department guidelines at COVID-19 Portal (columbus.gov)
  • Death of a relative - 3 days max, 5 days for out of state travel
  • Observation of Religious holiday (Eid, Yom Kippur, etc)

Please give or email Doctor visit excuses to Ms. Goins, the attendance secretary, when the student returns to school.

Is Your Child Absent from School?

If your student will be absent, please call or email the Attendance office by 9:30 a.m. on the day of the absence.

Phone: 614-365-5639

Email Attendance

Other Important Notes:

  • Up to 3 days excused for a relative’s death, 5 days if travel is required out of state

  • Students are allowed 9 excused absences per school year; additional absences require principal approval
  • Other reasons may be approved at the principal’s discretion

Doctor Notes

Please give or email any doctor notes to Ms. Carter when your student returns to school.

Need to Report an Absence?

Leave your child’s name, grade, date, and reason for absence by 9:30 a.m. via phone or email.

Please give or email Doctor visit excuses to Ms. Carter, the attendance secretary, when the student returns to school.

Tardies

Absences are calculated by minutes, so each minute a student is late for class counts towards hours of school missed. As of September 30, 2025, Ohio law defines a “chronically absent” student as “missing at least ten per cent of the minimum number of hours required in the school year”. The minimum number of hours referenced are also defined in Ohio law. Time missed from school for any reason, including excused and unexcused absences, will contribute to chronic absenteeism. Students only need to miss 2-3 days per month to be chronically absent by the end of the year.  Ohio law defines that a “habitual truant” is determined by certain thresholds of unexcused absences only: 

a. 30 or more consecutive hours (approximately 5 school days) 

b. 42 or more hours per month (approximately 7 school days) 

c. 72 or more hours per year (approximately 12 school days) 

School Tardy Procedures

Being on time to school and class is an essential life skill and supports student learning. At Briggs:

  • Tardiness is not acceptable, and repeated tardiness affects academic success.
  • Students who are tardy to school after 7:30 a.m. must sign in at the attendance table to receive a tardy slip.
  • Minutes missed due to arriving late also count toward unexcused absence hours.
  • Habitual tardiness (5 times in one quarter) will result in a one-day In-School Suspension (ISS).
  • Students who arrive after 10:00 a.m. or leave early must have a note or be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Students may not sign themselves out, even if they are 18 years old.