Attendance Policy

All students enrolled at Greater Lawrence Technical School are expected to be in school on time every day. School begins promptly at 7:43 each day unless otherwise indicated on the School Calendar or is delayed for emergency reasons.

Penalty For Inducing Absence from School

According to Massachusetts General Laws: Chapter 76,s4, Whoever induces or attempts to induce a minor to absent himself unlawfully from school, or unlawfully employs him or harbors a minor who, while school is in session, is absent unlawfully from there, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars.

Child Requiring Assistance (CRA) - Formerly “CHINS”

If a student is under the age of 16 and is excessively absent from school, The Assistant Principal will request that the Supervisor of Attendance file a CRA with the juvenile court. (CRA, may be filed for a “Stubborn Child” or “Truancy” issue.)

In these instances the courts will assist the parent and school in improving the student’s attendance.

How the Attendance Policy is Monitored and Enforced

A daily ConnectEd call will be made to the home each time a student is absent or consistently tardy to determine the reason for the absence or tardy.
“Wake-Up” calls are made to the home at 6 A.M. to assist consistently tardy students.

• If a determination is made that the student is truant, a Saturday detention will be issued immediately.
• If a student cannot be reached or begins to accumulate excessive absences the parent liaison will make a home visit with the Student Resource Officer and the Administrative Dean or designee.

Monitoring Excessive Absenteeism

At the end of each school year the Attendance Office will create a list of students who exhibited excessive absenteeism.
Names of students on this list will be given to the Assistant Principal/Dean who follows up poor attendance records by:

1. Sending a letter to the parent/guardian of the student reinforcing the school attendance policy
2. Scheduling a meeting to address the concern of excessive absenteeism in an effort to correct the problem

Make Up Days

Students, who due to extenuating circumstances have accrued excessive absences, may be offered makeup options for missed days. These must be approved by the Attendance Review Board. Options include Saturday school, after school opportunities, and summer school. To be considered the equivalent of a full school day, the student must attend four full hours of makeup time.

Any student who attends an attendance make up program must be engaged in meaningful work that aligns with lessons missed during their absence.

When attending the Make Up Program, students will report to the Education Responsibility Center (ERC) room where they are expected to work for the entire period on work which was missed during the absence. It is the student’s responsibility to retrieve work from their instructors and leave finished work with the ERC monitor at the end of the period. Early Morning Arrival

Students are permitted to enter the building through the rear doors of the school each school morning for the purpose of obtaining breakfast. Students must show or display their identification badge. Students are required to remain in the cafeteria or gym areas. After 7:43 A.M. the rear doors will be locked and all students must enter school through the front doors and report to discipline to sign in.

Access to lockers and other areas of the building will be permitted at approximately 7:35 A.M. each school day. At this time students have nine minutes to get to their lockers to get what they need for the day and then proceed directly to first period/shop for attendance. Students must show/display ID Badges during the first period.

Want to Know More?

For more information about our policies regarding Absenses, Tardies and Dismissals and how they work, please visit our other tabs located on the drop down menu. You can also find our entire policy and more in our Student Handbook!