Attendance Procedures

Attendance Office 407-956-8302

Attendance Office Clerk for grades 9 & 10: Ms. Gonzalez
Attendance Office Clerk for grades 11 & 12: Ms. Joanna Cardoso

Attendance/Truancy/Pre-Arranged Absence Request Forms: Ms. Sanchez Moreno
  OCPS Attendance Handbook
Pre-Arranged Absence Request

LNHS Attendance Policy for  2023-2024

School Board Policy JE outlines the responsibilities within the school building including, but not limited to, the following:

  • School attendance is the responsibility of the student and parent/legal guardian.

  • Per the OCPS Attendance Policy, students who are absent three or more consecutive days or who request more than five non-consecutive absences for medical reasons should be required to bring in a doctor’s note.

  • Student absences will be recorded as unexcused until an acceptable excuse has been provided by the parent/legal guardian indicating the reason for the student’s absence. The principal has the ultimate authority to decide whether an absence shall be excused. Attendance documentation must be submitted to the school within 48 hours of the student’s absence. The principal may extend this deadline beyond 48 hours.

  • Early student departure during the last hour of the school day is strongly discouraged.

  • Students who have attended more than half a school day and are released from school prior to the closing of the school day shall be recorded as an early departure for the purposes of attendance. Early departures are either excused or unexcused.

  • A student is considered absent for the entire day if more than half of the school day is missed.

Absences shall be excused for the following:

  • Illness, injury, or other insurmountable condition (either dismissed through the clinic, or with a note from parent/guardian; if a student is repeatedly absent due to illness, the school is authorized to require a written physician’s statement for each subsequent absence to be considered excused);

  • Illness or death of a member of the student’s immediate family (OCPS practice has been to define immediate family as the student’s mother, father, brother, sister, stepmother, stepfather, step-siblings, and other relatives who live  in the student’s home);

  • Recognized (or established) religious holidays and/or religious instruction; per Florida State Statute 1003.21 (2)(b): There are a number of religious holidays which qualify as excused absences. In order to qualify as an excused absence, the religious tenets must forbid secular activities on that day, and the parents must have declared that their student is observing the holidays of that specific religion. Religious absences are treated like prearranged absences, and must be requested in writing at least five days prior.

  • Medical appointments (requires doctor’s note);

  • Legal appointments (with documentation);

  • Participation in an approved activity or class of instruction held at another site;

  • Prearranged absences of educational value with the principal’s prior approval;

  • Pediculosis (head lice) infestation (up to four (4) days per school year); or

  • Catastrophic disasters that significantly impact the life of the student (e.g. loss of residence from natural disaster).

A student who is not in his/her assigned class at the beginning of the class period is considered tardy.

Students shall be given a reasonable amount of time to make up any work assignments which were missed during an absence. At least one (1) school day shall be allowed to make up missed work for each day of absence.

If a student believes there is an error in their attendance, they should speak with their teacher to determine the correction needed. The teacher will communicate any changes to the attendance clerk.

Phone calls are not acceptable communications for excusing an absence.

No student shall be awarded a credit unless the student has been in attendance for instruction for a minimum of 135 hours. The 135 hours required for attendance for instruction corresponds to twenty (20) absences in a school year or ten (10) absences for each semester.  In the case of secondary schools, excused absences shall be considered, on an hour per hour basis, as a part of the 135 minimum hours of classroom instruction.  The principal may provide a student who has been in attendance less than 135 hours an opportunity to receive credit by demonstrating mastery of the student performance standards in that course of study.  However, this pertains to credit only and not to the participation in school related events. 

Attendance & Extracurriculars
Students with 5 or more unexcused absences by Homecoming will not be permitted to attend.
Students with 10 or more unexcused absences per semester will not be eligible for Prom attendance, and may have their Student Parking Pass invalidated. 

In order to attend Senior events (Prom/Grad Bash), students must be on trajectory for graduation and passing all of their current classes. 

Attendance Policy 

1st offense: Verbal warning

2nd offense: Parent contact, verbal warning

3rd offense:  Parent contact, lunch detention

4th offense: Parent contact, Wednesday after school detention

5th offense: Parent meeting/behavior contract, referral and one day of PASS 

             6th offense: Referral and two days of PASS