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OPS updates attendance policy to remove 5/10/15 letter requirement; district will rely on calls, texts and parent portal
Summary
The board discussed proposed updates to Policy 5008 to remove century-old 5/10/15-day letter references and clarified the district will use calls, texts, emails and its parent portal to notify families; the district also confirmed doctor's notes for illness-related absences will not be required under the revised approach.
The Omaha Public Schools Board of Education reviewed proposed updates to Policy 5008 (attendance) on June 16 that would remove references to a 5-, 10- and 15-day letter sequence and instead rely on modern communications and school-level attendance teams to address absences.
Board member Mr. Thielen, speaking to the board, said the 5/10/15 letter practice dates to more than 50 years ago and that schools now have multiple ways to communicate earlier and more frequently with families, including phone calls, text messages and the district parent portal. "In the event of an absence not reported to the school, attendance calls, text messages, and/or emails will be sent to the parent, guardian, or the person who is responsible for making educational decisions on behalf of the absent student," Thielen read from the proposed language.
The policy committee recommended removing the letter references and adding language describing the district’s current communication methods. Committee members also reviewed a request from the county attorney regarding doctor’s notes for sickness-related absences; after discussing administrative burden and recordkeeping challenges, the committee recommended not requiring doctor’s notes. Dr. Holman asked for confirmation that doctor’s notes will not be required going forward; administration confirmed that they will not be required under the revised policy.
Thielen said the change gives individual schools authority to set attendance plans aligned to their goals; a school could still adopt local practices if it chose to use multi-step letter notification, but the districtwide policy will not require the 5/10/15 letter sequence.
The item was presented as an information item and no final vote was recorded on June 16. The policy committee requested example language showing the alternative communication steps be included in the policy text.
Clarifying details noted in the meeting: the 5/10/15 letter process will be removed from district policy; daily absence reporting and monitoring will remain available through the district’s parent portal; administrative staff cited the burden of processing physical doctor’s notes as a reason for not requiring them.
The policy committee will return a revised draft for future board consideration that incorporates the committee’s recommended language.
