My Transportation and Attendance

No, once you get on the bus you are considered to be under the supervision of SCS.  If you are under our supervision and SCS makes you late, you are not at fault.  The same goes if the bus gets to your stop late, since we have promised you transportation.  However, if you are late getting to your stop and miss the bus, or if you or your parents drive, you are responsible to arrive on time and late arrivals not due to bus issues may be unexcused tardies.  (You can see the question about excused and unexcused absences if you want more information on what tardies might be excused.)

The full set of requirements for those documents is determined by the state (see the Tennessee Department of Safety's website for the official list), but one thing you will need is proof of school attendance/progress. You can apply for this document in C office. The cost is $1. Our offices will verify that you are passing the majority of your classes and have fewer than 10 unexcused absences. The document should be ready by the following Friday. Simply take that form (valid for 30 days) and all other items requested by the TN Dept of Safety to the DMV to apply.

Like all U. S. schools, students are required by law to attend. However, there are always things that come up and are considered valid reasons to miss school. It is imperative that you get any absence that is excused marked as excused because that documents that your child was absent for a valid reason. Even if your child's absences should be excused, if you do not provide the needed documentation they will be marked unexcused and you may be identified by the truancy department as in need of investigation and possible prosecution.

The following are considered excused absences:

• Illness (bring a doctor's note or note from a parent)
• Death or serious illness within the student's immediate family.
• Religious Holiday
• Court order / Subpoena
• Extenuating circumstances over which the student has no control as approved by the principal. (Ask before the event, if possible.)
• If a student's parent or guardian is a member of the United States Armed Forces and is called to federal active duty. Full details on this situation are available from the SCS policy manual.
• During the time of online only learning, technical issues with your device are also excused.
• Participation in a non-school-sponsored extracurricular activity (see the SCS policy manual for full details)

The note documenting the reason for the excused absence should contain:

• The student's first and last name
• The parent or guardian's name
• The date(s) of the absence
• The date the note is written
• The reason for the absence
• All notes are due within 2 school days of returning to school

Special considerations:

• If a student has been absence for more than 3 consecutive days, the note needs to come from a more official source (doctor's note, court summons, the program from the funeral, etc.) rather than just a note from a parent.
• If the student has had more than 10 absences (excused and/or unexcused combined) within one school year, future absences are only excused if accompanied by a doctor's note or court order.

Your bus pass will tell you the location and time that the bus will come to pick you up. It is important that you be at the stop early and ready to go. Every bus has a specific route and timetable it must keep, so if you are late the bus driver is likely to assume you are not coming to school that day and leave you.

If you are there early and are certain your bus is late (rather than that you missed the bus), it is important that you remain at the stop and wait for the bus, unless you can get a ride to school immediately. If you are late to school because of a late bus, your tardy will be excused because you were where you needed to be when you needed to be there and the fault lies with us. You are not penalized. However, if you miss the bus or drive yourself and there are traffic issues, your tardy is unexcused since SCS cannot take responsibility for your individually arranged transportation.

Go to A office.

There are a lot of students at Germantown High School and, especially at the beginning of the year as more people are enrolling, it is almost always necessary to split buses that are overcrowded, combine underused buses, and adjust the locations of our bus stops to match the pattern of where students using the bus actually live.

If you come later in the year, you are likely to find a fairly stable bus situation, but early in the year we have to be flexible.