Attendance Information

Admin

Student Attendance

State law requires that your son or daughter attend school every day unless there is a legitimate excuse for the absence. The school must know where your child is if he/she is not in school. In the best interest of your child, we will be following this procedure:

1. If your child is going to be absent from school parents are expected to call Saco Middle School at 282-4181 by 9:00 a.m. or email a message to Sandy Dagraca or Jen Partridge. Please do not e-mail your child's absence to the teacher, they are busy and sometimes can not read their e-mail and notify the office before the calls for missing students are being made.

2. If we do not receive a call from the parents in the case of a student’s absence, we will assume that the absence is not excused and you will be called at work.

The Saco Board of Education believes that this procedure is necessary to keep everyone informed in case of a student’s absence in order to protect that child’s best interests.

Excusable Absences

According to Maine education law, a student may be excused from attendance at school pursuant for the following reasons:

A. Personal Illness;
B. An appointment with a health professional that must be made during the regular school day;
C. Observance of a recognized religious holiday when the observance is required during the regular school day;
D. A family emergency;
E. A planned absence for a personal or education purpose that has been approved by the principal; or
F. Education disruption resulting from homelessness, unplanned psychiatric hospitalization, unplanned hospitalization for a medical emergency, foster care placement, youth development center placement or some other out-of-district placement that is not otherwise authorized by either an individualized education plan or other education plan.

If you have questions about these definitions, please contact the school office.

Family Vacations

Please make every attempt to plan family vacation time around the school calendar. It is very important for students to be present during the designated days of instruction. Given the increased amount of assessments that are required at the local, state and federal levels, schools must take advantage of all available instruction time. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

A planned family vacation during which a student is absent from school does not obligate his/her teacher(s) to prepare missed assignments in advance. Any missed assignment work will be given to the student upon his/her return. Students who miss instructional time frequently fall behind their peers and struggle to catch up. Families are strongly encouraged to limit vacations that occur during school time. We ask that you notify the school in writing one week prior to the start of the planned absence. Vacation days will be counted as an unexcused absence.

Planned Absence Form

Tropical vacation