Attendance Policies/Procedures

**If your child is going to be absent from school, please notify the school through one of the following ways:

1. Call the attendance office: 732-382-0910  x3143 and leave a voicemail
2. EMail ALJAttendance@clarkschools.org
3. Parent Portal by clicking “Notify Attendance Office” on the summary page - please be sure to leave a note with the reason for absence. 

Regular attendance is essential to the successful completion of a course of study. and is required on all of the days the high school is in session. The official school attendance is taken at the start of Block 1 (7:50 A.M.) each day. Students arriving after that time must report to the Attendance Office for a late pass and will be marked as tardy.

Attendance Policies

Students may fail to achieve credit for a course when a student is absent five days in any one marking period course (health), nine days in any semester course, eleven days in physical education (3 MPs), or fourteen days in a full year course; these totals include both excused and unexcused absences. Exceptions to this rule may be made for pupils whose absences are excused and who have demonstrated through completion of assignments and mastered the proficiencies established for the course or when consistent with the Individualized Education Program of a student. The determination for these exceptions will be made by the Attendance Review Committee (Assistant Principal, Nurse, School Counselor, Teacher). The committee may decide to award credit, deny credit, or withhold credit until the appropriate “seat time” requirement is fulfilled. 

Please see the Student Handbook for additional information on absences. 

Attendance Review Committee

The attendance review committee consists of the Principal, Assistant Principal, School Nurse, School Counselor, CST member, and/or teacher.  If a student were to exceed the number of allowable absences or has an absence in question, the attendance review committee will meet to review any documentation and make a final decision on whether to excuse any absences in question.  

Extracurricular Activities

Students must be in school for a total of 4-hours in order to be eligible to participate in any after-school activity for that day.  This includes: sports practice or games, music performances, field trips, club activities, prom, among others. Additionally, poor overall attendance may also disqualify a student from attending any of the above events.

Being late to school deprives a student of a thorough and efficient education. Promptness is a responsibility of both the student and the parent/guardian. Any student who arrives after 7:50 A.M. must report directly to the attendance office in order to be admitted to school. Any student who is tardy is required to make up for missed work. Instances of tardiness to school will constitute a single unexcused absence in the ratio of three tardies to school being equivalent to one unexcused absence. Excessive tardiness will result in disciplinary action and the accumulation of the unexcused absences may result in the denial of course credit (see below). If a student misses one quarter of the class period, the student will be considered absent. 

Tardy To School

*Discipline resets after the 9th tardy. Additional “lates to school” will continue to accumulate as unexcused absences and will be subject to disciplinary action. Senior parking privileges may also be suspended indefinitely in the event of excess tardies. The accumulation of excessive absences could lead to a Referral to Municipal Court as deemed appropriate by the administration. 

Tardy to Class 

* Discipline resets after the 9th tardy. Additional “lates to school” will continue to accumulate as unexcused absences and will be subject to disciplinary action. Senior parking privileges may also be suspended in the event of excess tardies. The accumulation of excessive absences could lead to a Referral to Municipal Court as deemed appropriate by the administration.