| Southern Local School District |
| Administrative Guidelines |
5215 - MISSING AND ABSENT CHILDREN
It is the interest of this Board of Education to cooperate with Local, State, and National efforts to decrease the number of missing children.
The Superintendent is instructed to promulgate administrative guidelines to accomplish the following:
| A. | A student, at the time of his/her initial entry to school, shall present to the person in charge of admission a copy of his/her certificate of birth in lieu of birth certificate now prescribed by law: a passport or attested passport transcript showing the date and place of birth of the child; an attested transcript of a birth certificate; an attested transcript of a baptism certificate or other religious record showing the date and place of birth of the child; an attested transcript of a hospital record showing date and place of birth, a birth affidavit and copies of those records pertaining to him/her maintained by the school that s/he most recently attended. If the student does not present copies of the required documents, the principal shall notify the sheriff's department of this fact and of the possibility that the student may be a missing child. Failure to present the required documents shall not prevent enrollment. | |
| B. | Parent(s)/guardian(s) must notify the school in writing or by phone between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. on the day a student is absent unless previous notification has been given in accordance with school procedure for excused absences. If notification has not been made, the principal or his/her designee is required to notify a student's parents, custodial parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person responsible for him/her when the student is absent from school. A reasonable attempt shall be made to make such notification by telephone. (A reasonable attempt shall be defined as two (2) dialings to the number furnished.) If no contact has been made by noon, a written notice shall be mailed on the same day that the student is absent. Parents or other responsible persons shall provide the school with their current home and/or work telephone numbers and home addresses, as well as emergency telephone numbers. | |
| C. | Develop Informational Programs for students, parents, and community members relative to missing children issues and matters. Appropriate materials will be used including those prepared by the State Department of Education. | |
| D. | Request any person or firm authorized to take student photographs to provide a wallet size photograph of each student for inclusion in his/her file. | |
| E. | May develop a voluntary student-fingerprinting program in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies upon approval of the County Board of Education. | |
| F. | If a student is presumed to be a missing child, the principal shall immediately notify the Missing Children's Clearing Office in the State Attorney General's Office and the law enforcement agency where the child resided. |
Revised 2/28/94