As we near the end of the school year, it becomes more tempting for students to not show up at school as often as is required under Texas law.  With the warm weather and graduation approaching, it is hard to focus on school work 24/7.  The law in Texas allows students to miss a maximum of 10 days per school year before they have to start making up missed hours.

As someone who has had to make up 50+ hours for missing school due to illness, I can assure you, this is every bit as awful as it sounds.  It means going in for tutorials before and after school, going to Saturday school, and using community service hours to make up time.  It also means that the school can persecute you in a court of law, send you to jail or impose a fine, withdraw your enrollment, and prevent you from graduating.  Truancy is a serious issue in Texas, so the state has taken many precautions to ensure that students are attending school.

We are lucky at Vandegrift to have understanding APs who make the process of making up hours fairly easy.  However, it is never good to be in a situation where you need to make up hours in order to graduate.  Making up hours takes lots of time and commitment, but it can be done.  That being said, it is never a good idea to skip too much school, because your absences will come back to bite you in the butt.