Attending school regularly increases a child’s chances of success in school. Regular school attendance is more than “best practice”, it is also the law, per Virginia Code 22.1‐254. This code requires children between 5 and 18 years of age to attend school every day, all day. YCSD has policies and practice in place to help support regular school attendance.
Students should stay home from school when sick. In additional to illness, absences will be excused for: injury, medical procedures, doctor or dental appointments, death in family or funeral, legal obligations, religious obligations, religious observances, military obligations, and/or exceptional circumstances pre-approved by the building principal.
If schools do not receive written notification excusing the student absence for one of the reasons listed above, the absence will be unexcused. If a child accumulates five unexcused absences in a school year, the child is considered truant.
If a child is considered to be truant, the school division must work with the parent and/or child and develop truancy plans to improve the child’s attendance as required by Code of Virginia §22.1-258. The same code also requires that a petition be filed with The Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court if attendance does not improve by the child’s tenth absence.
Parents/guardians are asked to email the school attendance secretary and/or classroom teacher when their student is going to be absent, or send a note when the student returns to school. Parents who have not communicated an absence in advance will receive a phone call, email and/or text message each day a student is absent.
Attendance office email: (school initials)attendance@ycsd.york.va.us (example: YMSattendance@ycsd.york.va.us).