Page 28 - 19.20 Manual Snippet

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND CLASSIFYING ABSENCES

In accordance with the protections of due process, a student with a disability shall have his/her cause for absence
reviewed prior to:

• Imposing discipline sanctions regarding attendance
• Loss of credit
• Filing for truancy against the student and/or parent

Consideration shall be given to any relatedness between the student’s disabling condition and the student’s absences.

USE OF THE CHRONIC ILLNESS FORM

Parents should be asked to provide proper documentation for any chronic illness that adversely affects their child’s
attendance, to the school’s nurse, attendance office, and campus administration. The Chronic Illness Form (See
appendix – Chronic Illness Attendance Consideration) may be used for this purpose. To find the form go to the Intranet
at Departments, Student Services, Attendance, “Chronic Illness Form.” The form must be completed by a licensed US
physician and faxed directly from the physician’s office to the Central Attendance Office (972-485-4906) and kept on file
for the remainder of the year. (These forms are not available directly to parents and must be accessed by staff through
this document or the district Intranet.) Staff should advise parents when use of the Chronic Illness Form is appropriate
and provide parents a copy of the form. Care should be given to protecting the confidentiality of this information.

If a student has a Chronic Illness Form on file with a licensed physician’s statement that the student has a chronic illness
which likely will result in absences, the parent will be permitted to write additional notes for absences related to the
chronic condition identified by the physician. The parent is still required to write a note for each instance of such illness
and to state that the reason is the chronic condition identified. The Chronic Illness Form must contain a reasonable
statement from the physician regarding absences and will not be considered as a reason for all student absences to be
excused.

28
Back to Table of Contents