Independence’s Attendance Policy seems fair but firm. The full attendance policy is page 10 at http://www.wcs.edu/ihs/attendance/forms/Handbook0910.pdf
From reading the attendance policy, I can tell that the school is trying to address some issues.
For example…if a student’s parents write a note a week in advance and the student has 95% attendance and a C average, then the school will allow an excused absence, up to 5 times per year. I don’t remember anything like this when I was young. Rarely, my parents would pull me out of school, but there wasn’t a specific policy allowing it. It seems evident that too many parents were pulling their kids from school, so the school decided to allow it so that they could regulate it.
Another example…typically, if a student is ill, then a parent can write a note from them; however, on exam days and days before and after a break, a doctor’s note is required. In this case, it seems evident that too many parents were writing sick notes to get an extra vacation day and that too many parents were writing sick notes when their child hadn’t prepared for an exam.
The attendance policy also seems to have harsher consequences than when I was young. According to state law, parent’s will receive a truancy letter after 3 unexcused absences and another after the 5th. 10 unexcused absences seems to be where the courts start to get involved. For an explanation about how attendance ties in with a student’s learner’s permit, see my post: Learner’s Permit.