Policy 9400 Information
The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is committed to providing a safe, engaging, and supportive school environment that fosters the social and emotional safety, dignity, and well-being of all students. HCPSS acknowledges the need for employees
- to use an array of research-based positive behavior interventions, strategies, and a tiered system of supports to address student behaviors and keep students safe and free of harm
- to minimize the practice of exclusion from the classroom environment
- to minimize the use of physical restraint (which may only be used when necessary to protect a student or other person from imminent, serious, physical harm and only after other less intrusive, nonphysical interventions have failed or been determined inappropriate).
It is the expectation of the Board that HCPSS employees will be knowledgeable of and implement proactive positive behavior interventions in an effort to reduce the need for exclusion or physical restraint.
Additional information can be found at HCPSS Policy 9400 - Student Behavior Intervention. If you have any questions regarding this policy or its implementation, please contact a school administrator.
Electronic Device Policy
HCPSS Policy 8080 specifies that electronic devices-including cell phones, headphones, smartwatches,
and others-are to be off and away during the school day.
1. If an administrator reports to a classroom for a student who has violated the device policy:
- The administrator will follow policy and request that the student hand over their device for the remainder of the day (a parent/guardian will be notified).
- If the student does not hand over their device, the student will be assigned ISI and a parent/student meeting will be scheduled for the next day.
2. If a student violates the policy in any classroom for a second time:
- The device will be confiscated until a parent picks up the device.
- The student cannot have the device on their person in school. It will need to stay home or be turned in/picked up at the start and end of the day.
Attendance Policy 9010
Please review Policy 9010: https://policy.hcpss.org/9000/9010/. If your student is absent or will be absent, please contact us at the following email address to explain the reason (we can not take this information verbally): wlhsabsence@hcpss.org. In the email, please include the following information:
- Student First and Last Name
- Grade
- Reason for absence (e.g., illness, bereavement, observance of a religious holiday, lack of transportation)
- Discretionary Days
HCPSS students are granted 3 days a year to use at their discretion for scheduled interviews with prospective employers, visits to post-secondary institutions, family trips, civic engagement, and other special events. Such absences may not occur during exam or state-mandated testing periods unless authorized by the principal/designee. A written request for such absences to be lawful/excused should be submitted at least one week in advance to the principal/designee. Please download the PDF fillable Discretionary Absence Form and email it to wlhsabsence@hcpss.org. The form is also available in Chinese, Korean, and Spanish
If you are requesting a day for a religious holiday not identified by the Howard County Public School System school calendar, please download the PDF fillable Religious Obligation Form and email it to wlhsabsence@hcpss.org.
Please see the
Attendance letter.pdf (55.29 KB)
regarding attendance statistics from Assistant Principal Swartz for more information.