• Child’s illness or injury
• Family emergency with administrator approval
• Death of a family member
• Doctor or dental appointments that cannot be scheduled before or after school hours
• Religious holidays
• Required court appearances

Please note: If a student is absent, parents should always submit an excuse note to the main office when the student returns to school. Excuse notes should have student name, grade, date of absence, reason, and parent signature. For more information, parents can reference pages H-5 and H-6 in the SBISD Student/Parent Handbook.

SBISD policy mandates parents submit an excuse note to the school main office within two days of returning to school.

Excuse notes, which can be an email, must include:

• Student name
• A written statement giving the date and reason for the absence
• Parent or guardian signature for handwritten notes only
• Parent phone number

The Texas State Compulsory Attendance Law requires students aged 6 through 19 to attend school. Section 25.085 requires students to go to school each school day for the entire school day unless exempted by law. This requirement includes students who have voluntarily enrolled in prekindergarten or kindergarten and students who are 19 or older.

Students who violate this law may receive referrals for court proceedings against the parent, guardian or student to enforce the law.

If a student has been absent without excuse on three days or parts of three days within a four-week period, the school district shall issue a warning notice to inform the parent of their duty to monitor the student’s school attendance and require the student to attend school; and the student is subject to truancy-prevention measures in addition to other statutory requirements in existence; and a request for a conference between school officials and the parents will be made to discuss the absences.

If you receive a notice, take steps to avoid future unexcused absences and schedule a conference with school staff to understand how the absences occurred.

If you have any concerns regarding the accuracy of your student’s attendance, please contact the school’s main office.