• 2025-26 Grant Attendance Procedures

     

    Every Minute Matters: Grant’s Attendance Policy

    At Grant High School, we believe that every minute of every school day is an opportunity for learning and growth. Our new "Every Minute Matters" attendance policy is designed to support students in developing the habits they need to succeed in school and in life. For the 2024-25 school year, over one third of our Grant High School students were chronically absent or worse. This approach focuses on encouraging good attendance and punctuality, while also providing a clear path for students to get back on track if they fall behind.

    The "Learning Minutes Lost" System

    This policy uses a system to track "Learning Minutes Lost" for specific behaviors that disrupt learning. These minutes are a way for students to understand the value of their time in class. The minutes are accrued as follows:

    • 20 minutes for unexcused period absences.

    • 20 minutes for Late After Tardy (which is assigned to students more than 25% late to class).

    • 20 minutes for Skipping (which is assigned to students who leave class for more than 20 minutes without a valid reason).

    • 10 minutes for tardies.

    Any student whose ADA% (Average Daily Attendance) has dropped under 90% and "Learning Minutes Lost" balance exceeds 300 minutes, will be temporarily ineligible to participate in athletics, extracurriculars, and school events.

    Frequently Asked Questions:

    What Attendance Daily Average (ADA%) does my student need in order to remain eligible for athletics, extracurriculars, and school events?
    Students who maintain an Attendance Daily Average (ADA%) at or above the district’s 90% guideline for acceptable attendance will remain eligible for athletics, extracurriculars, and school-sponsored events regardless of their Learning Minutes Lost total. For your information, ADA% is impacted equally by both unexcused and excused absences. Absences for a “School Activity” do not impact a student’s ADA% (these include Athletic Event, Field Trip, In-School Appointment, Outdoor School, Testing, and In School Suspension). About two thirds of Grant students fell into the range of acceptable attendance last school year.

     

    How can my student stay eligible if they are below 90% Attendance Daily Average?

    Students with an Attendance Daily Average (ADA) below the district’s 90% guideline will now need to maintain a Learning Minutes Lost balance of less than 300 minutes in order to remain eligible for athletics, extracurriculars, and school sponsored-events. This is designed to support students and guide them towards making up the time that they have missed in the classroom. Again, Learning Minutes Lost totals will only be impacted by unexcused absences, including Skipping, Late After Tardy (arriving more than 20 minutes late), and tardies. There is more information about minute recovery options below. 

     

    Where can my student see their ADA% and Learning Minutes Lost?

    Students can view their attendance data on Canvas in the “GHS Attendance” course. These numbers will update at the end of the school day on Wednesdays and Fridays.

     

    Can my student participate if they miss class on the day of an athletics or extracurricular event?

    No. In alignment with current PIL policy, all students will be ineligible to participate in athletics or extracurriculars on the same day of an absence for any reason aside from a prearranged appointment. Again, the only exception is for an appointment with at least 24 hours notice provided to the Grant Attendance Office. If a student has to miss class due to health concerns, vacation, or other reasons without prior approval, these absences can still be excused by their parent or guardian, but the student will not be able to participate in athletics, extracurriculars, or events on the same day of that absence. 

     

    How can I properly excuse an appointment?
    For all appointments, there is now a 24-hour processing period. Parents and guardians can excuse these using their verified email address in our Absence Reporting form or by emailing grantattend@pps.net. Grant must receive notification of this appointment, via one of the two above methods, at least 24 hours prior to the absence in order for the student to be cleared to participate in athletics, extracurriculars, or events on the day of the absence. A note from your practitioner is not needed to excuse an appointment going forward.

    If a parent or guardian submits an excuse for an appointment within 24 hours before the missed class period, the appointment will be excused the following day to allow time for our team to accurately correct our attendance records. Again, the absence will be excused after 24 hours and the student’s Learning Minutes Lost total will not be impacted. 

     

    What is the best way to excuse other absences?

    For same day full day absences or future full day absences, the parent / guardian may excuse their student directly in ParentVUE. For partial day absences or past full day absences (within three days), the parent / guardian can excuse their student on our Absence Reporting Form using their verified email address or email us at grantattend@pps.net. To learn about best attendance practices, please visit the attendance page on Grant’s website under the “Our School” tab.

     

    What is the difference between Tardy (L) and Late After Tardy (LAT)?

    Students are marked Tardy (L) if they arrive any time between when the late bell rings and the first 25% of class (typically 23 minutes). Each Tardy (L) counts as 10 Learning Minutes Lost. Students are marked Late After Tardy (LAT) if they arrive more than 25% late to class. This counts as an absence at the district level. Each Late After Tardy (LAT) counts as 20 Learning Minutes Lost. 

    As a reminder, unexcused Absences (A) and Skipping (SKP) marks count as 20 Learning Minutes Lost as well. Students will also be marked Skipping (SKP) if they leave class for longer than 10 minutes without teacher permission. 

     

    How do I excuse a student for Club Sports (including Water Polo, Lacrosse, Ski / Snowboard Team, etc.)?

    If your student is part of a non-sponsored team at Grant (Water Polo, Lacrosse, Ski / Snowboard) have your coach reach out to the Grant Attendance Coach, Reid Tingley, via email at rtingley@pps.net. 

    Attendance for Grant sponsored athletics teams is managed by our athletic department and student absences will be excused with the athletics (ATH) code according to the team schedule. Parents do not need to excuse absences for Grant sponsored athletics. 

     

    What can students do to recover Learning Minutes Lost?

    Starting this week, students will be able to attend flex to earn back minutes. They can pick up a flex slip from the Attendance Coach, Reid Tingley, in the Student Counseling Center. Once the student returns this slip with five teacher signatures verifying that the student engaged in flex, the student will earn back 100 minutes. A student can only receive one teacher signature per flex period. 

    After school tutoring will begin next month. This will be a structured opportunity for students to learn skills and cover materials that they may have missed in class and will last one hour. Attendance will be taken and students who spend their time wisely will earn back 40 minutes for a full session of participation or 20 minutes for a half session.

    After school detention will also be from 3:45 to 4:30 on select days. In order to recover minutes, students will need to be in attendance for the entire detention period. Additionally, they will be required to complete an attendance reflection sheet. Students will earn back 30 minutes upon completion.

    For students with persistent attendance concerns, an Attendance Improvement Plan will be created. This plan will be the result of a collaborative meeting with the student, their parents or guardians, an attendance coach, a school administrator, and a counselor if needed. The goal of this plan is to identify and address the root causes of the attendance issues. When a student successfully completes two consecutive weeks of their Attendance Improvement Plan, their Learning Minutes Lost value will be adjusted to regain eligibility.