Daily attendance in school is a strong indicator of future success. All FBISD students should be on time daily and accounted for to ensure academic continuity and to maximize learning.

Students earn course credits by meeting the course requirements AND attending classes 90% of the time the class is offered. If not, your student may be in jeopardy of being denied course credit or not being promoted to the next grade level. Each campus has a designated Campus Attendance Committee that meets regularly to determine and review students who are not complying with the 90% attendance mandate.

Parents and guardians should always submit absence notes to campus attendance clerks when their child is not present, even if the child is sent home. A note submitted for an absence will be reviewed by the campus attendance personnel and/or the campus administrator to determine if the absence will be excused or unexcused. Parents and guardians should contact their child’s school if they have any questions. Unexcused absences can increase the chances of truancy-based infractions against students.

Per the Student Attendance Accounting Handbook provided by the Texas Education Agency, a student is either present or absent at the official attendance-taking (OAT) time, known as SNAPSHOT.  Each campus attendance is determined by the number of students present at this very important designated snapshot time. To ensure academic engagement and successful learning, all students should be present daily by snapshot and remain academically engaged all day:

• Elementary school snapshot time is 10:00 AM.
• Middle school snapshot time is 10:15 AM.
• High school snapshot time is 10:00 AM.

Ultimately, parents/guardians are responsible for getting their children to school. Here are a few tips:

• Daily attendance in school is a strong indicator of future success, and parents/guardians play a very important role in their children’s attendance. Going to school every school day should be a good habit reinforced by parents/guardians.
• What if your child needs to see a doctor? If your child STARTS or ENDS the school day and you provides proper documentation from the medical professional to the attendance clerk for that day, your child will be coded as PRESENT.
• If your child is ill, email the Attendance Clerk the morning of their absence.
• Arrive to school on time and attend every class period, especially during the OAT—official attendance-taking time (10:00 AM for elementary schools and high schools; 10:15 AM for middle schools).

Attendance Highlights:

• Students will be onsite at their prospective campus engaged in face-to-face academic instruction and attendance-taking.
• There will be no remote learning options for attendance funding, per the State of Texas.