Attendance & Withdrawal

Attendance

As a public charter school, Georgia Cyber Academy is required to monitor student attendance in accordance with all applicable statutes and State Board of Education rules. Georgia Cyber Academy’s Student Attendance Committee monitors student attendance. All Georgia Cyber Academy students must be legal residents of the state of Georgia and provide proof of residence at the time of enrollment, re-enrollment, and at any time during the school year if a change in residence occurs. If you have any questions about your student’s attendance, please contact your Attendance Specialist.

• Students are required to follow the school calendar, which includes one hundred eighty (180) school days.
• All students must log in to the GCA Online School (GOLS) via Canvas every day to include Canvas Login Days (asynchronous days), and log completely out of the system when schoolwork is completed for the day. You can think of logging into Canvas like stepping into the school building.
• All students must log into Google, Clever, and Canvas.
• Six (6) unexcused absences from required class sessions equals one (1) unexcused day of school.
• Students are considered present for class if they attend the entire session.
• Time spent in class will automatically be logged in Nucleus.
• If a student’s Nucleus attendance records are less than half of the required hours for their grade band, they will be counted absent for that day.
• Homeroom attendance is required daily for all students.
• Per SBOE Rule 160-5-1-.02, the minimum number of hours required per school day are as follows:
  • Kindergarten – 3^rd Grade 4.5 hours per day
  • 4^th – 5^th Grade 5.0 hours per day
  • 6^th – 12^th Grade 5.5 hours per day
• Dual Enrollment and Work Based Learning students (full time and part time):
  • Are excluded from minimum instructional hours listed below; however, they are not excluded from the minimum instructional days
  • Are required to attend homeroom live or watch the recording within two school days
  • Are required to log into Canvas and check their inbox on every GCA school calendar day
  • Are required to check their student Gmail inbox on every GCA school calendar day
  • Are required to log attendance in Nucleus on every GCA school calendar day
  • Fifth year seniors are excluded from the minimum instructional hours listed above; however, they are not excluded from the minimum instructional days

Excused Absences

To have an absence excused, a legal guardian (or learning coach, where applicable) must upload documentation to Nucleus within three (3) school days of the student’s return.

Here is a guide to help you with Nucleus so you can review and upload any excuses.

 Please note that students are excused from attending for the reasons below, but students are not excused from completing assignments and assessments.  It is the students’ and parents’ responsibility, not the teachers’, to arrange for make-up work. Students should ask their teacher for any missed assignments on the first day they return to school. The days allowed to make up work will not exceed the number of days absent.  All excuse documentation must be uploaded in Nucleus by the last day of each semester, as attendance records will be finalized at that time. Valid reasons include:

• Student illness or quarantine
  • Doctor’s note should be provided when possible as parent notes are limited.
• Medical/Dental Appointments for the student
  • Doctor’s note should be provided when possible as parent notes are limited.  Appointments for family members are not excused.
• Counseling/Related Services
  • Must be scheduled outside of core classes when possible. If it is not possible, please reach out to your Attendance Specialist for information on the required documentation to submit
• Death in immediate family
  • Up to 5 consecutive days for bereavement. Ongoing illness of a family member requires provider documentation that the student is unable to participate in school
• Court/Government Orders involving the student.
• Religious Holidays
  • Religious holidays are not considered excused absences; however, students who observe a religious holiday may make up missed work under the following conditions: prior notice must be given to the school before the holiday, and students will have up to two school days to view class recordings and complete any missed assignments. Failure to view the recordings and complete the assignments within this timeframe will result in an unexcused absence.
• Educational Travel
  • Educational travel must be approved at least 5 days in advance by the School Accountability Director. Approval is not guaranteed and will be denied during testing windows. Non-school-related vacations or trips will not be excused. Legal guardians may submit a summary of the educational activities to the Attendance Specialist. If available, students may be approved to watch class recordings in place of being excused from class.\
• Military Leave (Parent/Guardian Deployment)
  • Up to 5 excused days per year for visits before or during deployment with proper documentation.
• Internet/Technology Issues
  • If a student experiences technical difficulties with GCA systems, they are required to submit a ticket to the Help Desk and let their Attendance Specialist know by providing the ticket number in Nucleus: https://support.georgiacyber.org/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=18851293650327  in real time to troubleshoot the issue, or contact SCA at 404-334-4790 extension 8 for hardware-related problems. 
  • All personal internet issues must be documented by the service provider, including ticket numbers or official outage confirmations, and must include identifying information. Information to include would be your name, address, and date of the outage.

There is no legal “opt-out” of mandated testing, including Georgia Milestones Assessments.  The State of Georgia’s legislation does not permit opt-outs from state mandated assessments (Georgia Law O.C.G.A. §20‐2‐281).  GCA students who do not attend testing will be counted as absent.  The refusal to participate will impact overall school achievement and CCRPI scores (State Board of Education Rule 160‐4‐2‐.11).  More importantly, the absence of state mandated testing would result in data that does not reflect the true achievement of the student and would not show a complete and accurate picture of the academic performance and quality of instructional programs.

Both state and federal laws currently require the annual assessment of all students enrolled in public schools in identified grades and courses and neither law nor policy currently allow for a parent to opt a student out of this requirement for any reason.  Parents who wish to advocate for a change in testing requirements are encouraged to contact their federal legislators and to work within the legislative process.

Students are required to attend all scheduled in-person testing sessions. To be excused, valid documentation must be provided — this includes a medical note from a healthcare provider or official evidence of a family emergency.

Please note that personal notes from parents stating a student is "not feeling well" or verbal explanations such as car trouble will not be accepted. If appropriate documentation is not submitted, the absence will be marked as an unexcused (UA).

Only documented situations that prevent a student from being at the test site will qualify for an excused absence.

Truancy

A student is considered truant after accumulating five (5) unexcused absences—consecutive or non-consecutive. Truancy includes failing to attend school, missing required classes, or not logging attendance in Nucleus. The truancy process continues throughout the school year.

Once a student is deemed truant, the Student Attendance Committee (SAC) Coordinator will notify the legal guardian of a required Truancy meeting with the Student Attendance Committee including an Attendance Officer.

If a student reaches ten (10) unexcused absences, they may be withdrawn from Georgia Cyber Academy (GCA) for non-attendance. Parents/guardians will be notified via email, and the local school district and juvenile court will also be informed to ensure the student is enrolled in another educational setting (public, private, charter, or homeschool).

Truancy is governed by SBOE Rule 160-5-1-.02, which relates to student attendance during the school day and State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.10: Student Attendance,  which defines a truant student as one who has more than five unexcused absences during the school year.

IMPORTANT: By law, if a student is withdrawn and no proof of transfer or homeschool declaration is received within 45 days, the student will be referred to DFCS (Department of Family and Children’s Services).

Submit proof of registration or homeschool declaration to:

• K–8: csimmons@georgiacyber.org
• 9–12: cgermain@georgiacyber.org

To withdraw, parents must contact their Family Engagement Liaison in writing via email and complete a DocuSign form. A copy will be sent to the provided email. Return of school-issued materials and equipment (computer, printer, hotspot) will be arranged by GCA.  If you have questions about your student's attendance, please contact your Attendance Specialist.  Appeals for Truancy Withdraw will not be accepted after the last day of school.

IMPORTANT: By law, if no transfer documentation is submitted within 45 days of withdrawal, the student will be reported to DFCS.

Students withdrawn from GCA due to truancy in the current or previous years will be placed on Attendance Probation for the entire school year. A Probation Attendance Specialist will be assigned to your student, and they will be reviewed for withdrawal if they reach three unexcused absences. Additional requirements must be met during enrollment.