Board conducts first reading of updated student-attendance policy expanding meeting requirement to K'12

The Warwick County School Board held a first reading Aug. 11 of updated Policy 4040 on student attendance that clarifies excused-absence categories and expands a required school-level meeting rule to all grade levels. Doctor Walter Lambert presented the changes and said the major edits add scheduled FFA and 4'H competitions or exhibitions as an explicit exception and extend the meeting requirement from K'6 to K'12. The policy change includes a threshold that triggers a required attendance meeting: students who accumulate five unexcused absences within a 10'week period will prompt a required conversation between a school representative, teacher and a parent (and a parent representative) to develop an attendance plan. Lambert said that previously the similarly worded requirement applied only to K'6, and the revision aligns the district to state expectations. Why it matters: the update clarifies what counts as excused for activities the district had already been treating as excused and standardizes the meeting trigger across all grades. Board members asked clarifying questions about common situations, including family vacations and whether parochial schools are subject to the same rules. Lambert said vacations and parent communications still factor into local excuse determinations and that the district will continue to work with families. He also noted that Indiana law treats a student as either present or absent and the district is responsible for classifying excused or unexcused absences. The board received assurances that the rubrics and attendance regulations are available on the district website and that the second and final reading of the policy is scheduled for the Aug. 25 board meeting, when the board may choose to adopt the policy.