Attendance
Consistent attendance is essential for children to learn and make progress. When students are late, picked up early, or absent, they miss instruction. Parents/guardians are responsible for seeing that their children receive instruction in compliance with MN Statute 120A.22. The district’s expectation is that your children will attend school all day, every day that school is in session.
Reporting an absence
Please call the attendance line at 763-425-5855 ext. 1 or email the Cedar Island attendance email account at ciattendance@district279.org before 10 a.m. on the day your child is absent.
Excused absences
Appointments for dentist, doctor, mental health professional, orthodontist, legal matters, funerals, illnesses, in- or out-of-school suspension, late bus, religious reasons, or severe weather will be excused.
Situations such as sibling adoption or birth; family, student, or personal concern; family illness; or prearranged vacation may be excused at the principal’s discretion.
Unexcused absences
Absences due to sibling child care, no stated reason, missed the bus, and non-school extracurricular activities (dance, music, sports/activities lessons, etc.) will not be excused.
Continuing Truant
MN Statute 260A.02 Subd. 3 states that when a child under 12 years of age has three days of unexcused absences, he or she is considered a continuing truant.
Habitual Truant
MN Statute 260C.007 Subd.19 states that when an elementary child is absent from attendance at school without lawful excuse for seven days, he or she is considered a habitual truant.
Attendance procedures
The district has a defined procedure for recording full, half-day, and partial-day attendance. Staff members monitor student attendance and work with families to ensure regular school attendance. If a student starts to show a pattern of missing all or a portion of the school day, staff will contact the child's parents/guardians. If a student has excessive absences (excused or unexcused), an administrator may become involved.
Follow-up for unexcused absences may include a letter from school staff seeking to resolve frequent, unexcused absences.
If the attempts to resolve unexcused absences are not successful and the student has accrued six unexcused absences, a referral will be made to the Hennepin County Attorney’s office for a Parent Group Meeting (PGM). After the PGM, if there are three additional days of unexcused absences, a referral will be made to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Educational Neglect.
In order to learn and comply with Minnesota’s compulsory instruction laws, students need to have consistent, regular attendance
Attendance Line
763-425-5855 ext. 1