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Fremont City Schools adopt handbook changes: earlier absentee notices, fewer grade mailings
Summary
The Fremont City Schools board approved updated student handbooks that implement attendance changes required by House Bill 96 (families now notified at 5% missed hours) and reduce routine grade mailings to four reports per year, with midterm notices reserved for students at risk.
Jim Boss, director of student services, told the board the student handbooks include several substantive changes driven by state law and local practice. "One of the major shifts is that all hours of missed instruction... count toward chronic absenteeism," Boss said, and the district will notify families earlier when students cross a threshold: "we're going to be notifying families at 5% of total instructional hours missed." He said 5% equates to about 45 hours in K–6 and about 50 hours in high school — roughly seven or eight missed days.
Boss also pointed to a change to grade reporting under policy IKAB: routine grade mailings will move from eight reports per year to four, with midterms sent only for students identified as at risk of failing. "If a student is at risk of failing, they're gonna catch that midterm coming home as well," he said, and urged parents to use ProgressBook for on-demand access to grades. The board moved to approve the handbooks as item 9; the motion passed on roll call.
The superintendent and staff said the district will use ParentSquare, building principals and social workers to communicate the changes and support families through the attendance-intervention approach. The handbook also contains modest updates to the cell-phone discipline policy (progressive consequences for repeated violations) and other minor edits; parents are encouraged to review the final forms before acknowledging them online.
Next steps: the handbooks were approved by the board this evening and staff will share talking points with building administrators ahead of school start so families receive consistent communications.
