08/25/2026
🔹️Attendance Changes🔹️
Rapid City Area School District has adopted new attendance policies that will affect how your child's attendance is recorded. Please read below to see what this will look like.
In previous years, families may have used the "Verified Personal" absence category. Under the updated attendance policy, Verified Personal is no longer an excused absence category. There is now an important distinction between reporting an absence and the absence qualifying as excused. An absence that is reported by a parent/guardian but does not fall within an excused category will be recorded as unexcused. For example, a parent reported personal day does not, by itself, qualify as an excused absence under the updated policy.
For an absence to be considered excused, it must be reported within the required timeframe (no later than one full school day following the absence), AND the reason must fall within one of the District's identified excused absence categories as follows:
🔹️Family emergencies
Family leave, including weddings, vacations, and non-District sponsored club or sporting events, up to five days per academic year
🔹️️Participation in state or nationally recognized youth programs of educational value, up to five days per academic year.
🔹️️Student illness or illness in the student's immediate family. Medical appointments or treatment. South Dakota Department of Health exclusions
🔹️Working as an election official if the student is 18
🔹️Cultural or religious observances
🔹️Bereavement
🔹️Military obligations
🔹️Inclement weather impacting transportation
We would like to make sure our families are aware of this change going forward.
As always, regardless of the reason, please call and let us know when your child will be late or absent, as we want their whereabouts and safety to be our top priority.
Thank you!
