Page 39 - Staff Handbook- Bethune Elementary 2018-2019_Neat

TARDINESS:
Have you ever heard, “If you’re on time, you’re late?” Our instructional day begins at 7:30 a.m. Children
should be in their classrooms and ready to begin work before the tardy bell rings at 7:35 a.m.
When children arrive after 7:35 a.m., a parent must sign in the student in the front office. The
student will then take a tardy pass to the teacher.

When students are tardy, they interrupt class and may miss important explanations of the assignments.
Remember, missing just five minutes a day is equal to 25 minutes of lost instruction each week!
Punctuality is a quality of good citizenship, therefore, please help your child arrive on time to school
each day.

If your child is late due to an emergency, please write a note of explanation.

SC-DSML:
If a student is signed out early and misses more than 50% of the day, the student should be
coded SC-DSML.

Since SC-DSML is an absence code, those days will show in absence totals on the Quick
Lookup page as well as in Parent Portal. Also, parents who have notifications set in the
Parent Portal app will receive an attendance notification. (This applies to SC-EDSM codes
you change to SC-DSML codes as well.)

Please note that days marked as SC-DSML will NOT affect truancy or truancy tracking and
notification.

As a result of this change, you may get calls from parents wanting an explanation of the
increase in absence totals. You may want to use the points below to help explain the change
to parents.
● As of January. the SCDE has instructed us to use the SC-DSML code for a student
who signs out early and misses more than 50% of the school day. (This includes
changing codes as appropriate for any dates during the 17-18 school year.)
● If the parent clicks the total number of absences, he/she will see the SC-DSML code
for the appropriate date(s).
Absences coded SC-DSML do not count as a full day absence for truancy purposes.

ATTENDANCE INCENTIVE PROGRAM: The purpose of the Attendance Incentive Program is to
encourage students to improve their attendance and to reward students for good attendance. Students will
be recognized at the Awards Programs.