Attendance Information
Attendance is critical to your child’s achievement and success. Truancy has a negative impact on all aspects of middle school life. Powell adheres to the truancy policies and procedures established by our district which can be found in the Student Code of Conduct.
Students should not be dismissed early except for emergency cases and/or medical appointments. To pick your child up through the front office, you must arrive prior to 3:45 pm. The front of the school is for bus pick-up and must be clear of cars prior to our buses arriving on campus. Thank you for understanding. Students will not be called to the front office until you are present and have provided valid identification. For the safety of your child, we will not release them to anyone that is not on your emergency pick up card. If you need to add someone to your emergency pick up card, please note that it must be done in person and valid identification must be presented at that time. We cannot accept phone calls to allow someone to pick up your child through the front office or change the way in which your child goes home. This includes having them get on a bus they don't typically ride. We understand that emergencies occur and we will do everything in our power to help when those instances do arise, however please be pro-active and add a relative or possibly a family friend that you trust to your emergency card in case of those instances. You may add a sibling as long as they can provide a valid state ID or Driver’s License to identify them. We do not accept school ID cards as a form of identification.
Please note the following information about attendance and participation in extracurricular activities. Your child must be in attendance for the full day in order to participate in sports, fine arts, field trips, or attend extracurricular activities as a spectator. If your child misses school, a doctor’s note must be provided with a date to return to school. If that date does not coincide with the day your child will be participating, they will not be able to attend the extracurricular activity. Leaving school early/arriving to school late will make your child ineligible to participate on that day without a doctor's note.
At Powell, we follow district policies in order for students to participate in any activities, field trips, athletics, etc. Your child must have at least a 90% attendance rate in all classes to be eligible to attend and/or participate.
If you are planning a vacation, please note that we have a vacation request form that must be filled out and approved by the Principal or his designee to excuse up to five days of missed school. This form needs to be signed by the parent/guardian, a note must accompany the form, and all of your child’s teachers must sign the vacation request form at least 10 business days prior to the vacation. Vacation request forms are available in our front office. Please note that the week prior to winter break and the last week of school are exam days.
All K-12 students are required to pay a $20.00 Activity Fee that has been approved by the Hernando County School Board. We are asking that our parents pay this fee when they come for schedule pick-up on Tuesday, August 9th. Depending on your child’s schedule there may also be other fees to be paid at this time which include: Art, Band, Chorus, Culinary, Dance, and Science Lab Fees. Students who have Physical Education and Tae Kwon Do may also purchase a uniform on this day. Fees may be paid in cash or by credit card using our RevTrac system.
If you have any questions about our attendance policies or academic fees, please contact us at 352-797-7095. We look forward to another great school year.