CCSD board approves attendance policy affecting driver’s licenses

Clark County students who want to keep their driver’s licenses need to make sure they don’t skip school.

The Clark County School Board of Trustees on Thursday formally approved a new attendance policy that requires students under 18 to submit a certificate of attendance, signed by a school administrator, to the Department of Motor Vehicles or face having a license suspended or denied.

Students must show they’ve attended school at least 90 percent of an ongoing semester.

For students who are licensed, the conditions are stricter. After three unexcused absences, a student can be declared a “habitual truant” and have his or her license suspended: for 30 days after the first three unexcused absences, 60 days for the next unexcused absence, and an additional 60 days for every absence after that.

In Clark County School District high schools, if a student has three unexcused absences, they will have an opportunity to rectify at least one of them before facing a hearing with a school assistant principal or dean.

Within three days of any unapproved absence, a parent can call the school and ask for it to be excused.

After three unexcused absences a meeting will be called with students, parents and school administrators. If proof is not shown that the absence should be excused, school police will be called in to confiscate the student’s license, which will be mailed to the motor vehicle department.

Once that happens, students who want a new license will have to reapply at a local DMV office after the suspension is over.

The board’s unanimous vote falls in line with state law passed during the 2013 legislative session, which allows up to 10 unexcused absences per semester before a student loses their right to apply for a driver’s license.

Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe.