WINTON – Parents, take heed.

If your children are regularly late for or picked up early from public school, you might want to work extra hard on fixing that starting this upcoming school year if you live in Hertford County.

During the Hertford County Board of Education meeting on June 23, the board adopted a revised attendance policy in which for every three times a student is tardy or is picked-up early in a nine-week period, it will count as one day’s absence.

No more than 20 absences are allowed in one school year (10 per semester) in order for a student to be promoted to the next grade.

According to the revised compulsory attendance policy, “Every parent, guardian or other person having charge or control of a child shall see that he/she attends school continuously and adheres to arrival and departure times while the school is in session.”

All students are required to be not only in attendance, but also on time and present for the entire day for a minimum of 90 percent of the instructional time in order to receive credit.

“We need to make sure parents are aware of the new procedure,” stated board member Dennis Deloatch.

Additionally, the new rules state that any child who has been tardy or picked up early will not be eligible for a perfect attendance award.