Attendance & VOEs

Parents do not need to come in, you may call or email to make the request. Email is preferred. Please provide the student's name, grade, ID number, and dismissal time. If you call you may need to leave a voicemail, we promise we will get the message, but we will not return the call to verify. If no time is left, we will process the dismissal 30 minutes from time of voicemail. Multiple calls or voicemails will result in a delay of your request. If you email, we will respond with a quick "Got it" or "Thank you", etc. to verify we received the message. Please note email is always preferred.

You can send us the early dismissal request the evening before or the day of, but please give us at least 30 minutes to receive and process the request. We can not process early dismissal days in advance. You can, however, let us know in advance if your student will be absent. Please note we stop checking emails or voicemails after 3:15 PM, if you need an early dismissal for a time later than that, please make sure to call or email before 3:15 PM. For last names A-K, please contact Erika Dunn at Erika.Dunn@kellerisd.net or 817-744-1440; for last names L-Z, please contact Bree Bell at Bree.Bell@kellerisd.net or 817-744-1441. We do prefer emails over phone calls, and will always respond to an email.

If the student returns to school after an early dismissal, they must sign; back in at the attendance office with any necessary documentation (ie: doctor's note).

This is a closed campus and students should not leave campus without a dismissal note. Students should not leave campus during their lunchtime. Students caught leaving campus without a dismissal note, even if the parent calls after the fact, can face disciplinary action.

Doctor and court appointments are considered by the state to be excused absences. If we receive documentation, we can adjust the student's attendance so that the absence will not go against seat time.

It is important that all absent dates are listed on the documentation because we can only use the dates that are provided on the note. If the student misses a day of school because he/she is sick but doesn't see a doctor until the next day, you can ask the doctor to provide all previous, current; future absent dates on the note.

If a doctor's note states that a student may be excused from school for 5 days but the student returns on the 3rd day, he/she can not then stay home for the 4th & 5th day. Once a student returns to school, the doctor's note is canceled and a new note will be needed for any further excused absences; (unless the doctor specifically explains why a student might need to come to school and then be out again).

The doctor's note can be dropped off or emailed to us in the attendance office. You may provide a copy of the note to the nurses; office or athletics if you believe it's needed, but we need to keep a copy in attendance in order to excuse the absence. Teachers do not need a copy unless you want them to have it.

In order to get credit for a class, students are required to be present in their classroom seat 90% of the time.

Students may have 9 unexcused absences for 1st & 8th periods, and they may have 5 unexcused absences for 2nd – 7th periods. Once a student reaches 10/6 unexcused absences, they must make up the seat time.  

Seat time can be made up in various ways such as Saturday school or tutorials. If a student knows he/she will have to miss school in the future, they can plan ahead and bank seat time the same way, through Saturday school and tutorials.

Seat time recovery is handled through the Assistant Principal's office. You may contact your student's AP or the student can visit their office to discuss how they can make up any needed missed class time.

To qualify for a final exam exemption, students in grades 9-12 cannot have more than 3 unexcused absences in periods 2nd-7th, and no more than 4 unexcused absences in 1st and 8th periods. They must have a grade of 85% or better in the class, and they cannot have any disciplinary issues for the semester.

Students must be present for the period they are exempt from the exam. Failure to attend the period (unless absent due to an excused absence), for which a student is exempt from the exam, will result in a zero for the exam grade. To be eligible for exemptions, students must be present (unless absent due to an excused absence) for the full day of school during exam week.

Any absence that the district doesn't receive funding for is considered an unexcused absence.

Excused absences include a doctor's appointment or extended absences cleared by a doctor's note, a court appointment, a state-approved religious holiday, testing, early dismissals, In-School-Suspension, military appointments (situational), INS appointments, or district-approved school activity. A funeral is technically an unexcused absence, but it will not be used against seat time or truancy. Juniors and Seniors are allowed 2 excused college visits per year. For college visits, excuses must be on college letterhead, Keller ISD does not accept email confirmations or itineraries. Additional Junior/Senior college visits are technically unexcused but will not be used against seat time or truancy. Travel time for college visits is NOT excused and will be coded as a parent note. Documentation is required for all excusable absences. 

When parents call/email to notify us that their student will not be in school for any reason other than what is listed as an excused absence, we will code the student as out with a Parent Note. A parent note lets us know that the parent is aware that the student is not present at school, but it is an unexcused absence, and it will count against seat time, but it will not be used toward truancy. This is why doctor notes and other excusable absence documentation are so important.

Technically, all unexcused absences can lead to truancy. Students who have 10+ unexcused absences in 1st & 8th or 6+ unexcused absences in 2nd - 7th are truant. Funerals and parent notes will not be used toward truancy unless they are habitually used. Truancies are handled through the Assistant Principal's office.

If your student has a chronic medical condition, you need to notify the attendance, nurse, and counseling offices.

Have your student come by the attendance office to pick up a Correction Form. The student will use that to have the teacher sign off that the absent mark was made in error. Once we receive the teacher's signed form, we can make the correction.

Students can also address the error directly with the teacher either in person or by email.

We in attendance will only adjust an absent mark if we receive verification from the teacher to do so.

If the parent is aware that the student will be late to school, they can call/email us to let us know and we will let the parent note any missed class time. Remember parent notes are unexcused and a student needs to be present for at least 50% of the class to get credit for that class period.

Students who are late to school must sign in at the attendance office so that we are aware of what time they arrived on campus.