Attendance Policy
Student Attendance Guidelines
Objective: To maintain first-rate attendance and increase the academic performance of each student.
Student Services staff members work closely with students, parents, school personnel, and the community to remove barriers that affect student attendance in school. Regular school attendance is an essential part of a student's learning process and a necessary means to graduating with a good education. Students who are frequently absent may be putting their futures in jeopardy by falling behind in academics and missing important socialization concepts that enhance their ability to understand and follow directions. Chronic absenteeism, especially truancy, is a behavior that is highly associated with dropping out of school.
Please carefully read the following information about South Carolina School Attendance Laws and the Fort Mill School District’s Guidelines for student attendance. The Fort Mill School Board believes that attendance is a key factor in student achievement, and any absence from school represents an educational loss to the student. However, the board also recognizes that some absences from school are unavoidable and has established an attendance policy which allows for absences in inevitable circumstances.
SC Compulsory School Attendance Law
All parents or guardians shall cause their children or wards who are in the age group of five to sixteen years, inclusive, to regularly attend a public or private school or kindergarten of this State which has been approved by the State Board of Education or a member school of the South Carolina Independent Schools’ Association or some similar organization, or a parochial, denominational, or church-related school, or other programs which have been approved by the State Board of Education; provided, further, that any parent or guardian which child or ward is not six years of age on or before the first day of September of a particular school year may elect for their child or ward not to attend kindergarten. For this purpose, the parent or guardian must sign a written document making such election with the governing body of the school district wherein the parent or the guardian resides. The form of this written document shall be prescribed by regulation of the Department of Education. Upon such a written election being executed, that child or ward may not be required to attend kindergarten.
Click here for a printable copy of the guidelines and parent FAQs.