Attendance

Regular school attendance is one of the most important factors determining your child’s academic success. The law states that regular school attendance is mandatory, and that the only excused absences are for illness, quarantine, or medical/dental care; funeral for immediate family member; family emergency; required appearance in court and; observance of a religious holiday. Absences due to family trips are unexcused absences. When possible, please schedule doctor’s appointments after school hours or towards the beginning or end of the school day.

In addition, California Education Code 48260 states, “Any pupil subject to full-time education who is absent from school without a valid excuse for more than 30 minutes on each of three days in one school year is a truant and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor or the superintendent of the school district.

Absences:

Sometimes students must miss school. It is important that the school knows when your child is not in attendance. Parents should follow the procedures listed below when their child is absent from school:

• Notify the school in writing or by phone (427-2300, ext. 203).
• Provide the child’s full name, plus your name and relationship to the child.
• Provide the name of the child’s teacher
• Provide the reason for the absence and the duration of the absence.
• Parents must account for each day of absence either by phone or in writing. 
• Children absent for 3 days or longer MUST return with a doctor’s note.
• Absences must be cleared by a parent within three school days. If we do not hear from the
parent/guardian after three days, the absence will be considered unexcused.

Unexcused Absences: In order to comply with state law and help our students receive a good education, the following procedures will be followed in the case of unexcused absences and/or excessive tardies (three time tardy 30 minutes or more, or more than five times late less than 30 minutes):

Step 1 ~ After the second unexcused absence, late over 30 minutes, or three times tardy under 30 minutes, parents will receive a phone call from the office urging improvement in attendance.
Step 2 ~ After three unexcused absences, lates over 30 minutes, or more than five times tardy under 30 minutes, a letter will be mailed home informing the parent/guardian of the attendance record and possible consequences.
Step 3 ~ If additional unexcused absences/tardies/lates occur, a second letter will be sent home and a conference will be scheduled with the superintendent/principal to develop an improvement plan.
Step 4 ~ If the attendance problem continues, a third letter will be mailed home and the parents/guardians and student will be referred to the Student Attendance and Review Board (S.A.R.B.) for action. The parent/guardian and student will be required to meet with the county S.A.R.B. panel, and the S.A.R.B. panel may refer the case to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s office for legal action.

Tardies, Early Dismissal, and Late Pick-up Procedures: If your child must arrive late to school, please call the office by 9:00am, please bring your child to the office to sign them in and obtain an admit slip before going to class. Late-arriving students are one of the biggest disruptions we experience in our classrooms and in the school office. Signing in tardy students hinders the ability of the office staff to deal effectively with emergencies and other situations that come up each morning. The morning is disrupted for the other students, and classroom teachers are forced to repeat directions. The late student often feels embarrassed and misses crucial instruction. Thank you so much for your support in this area. Together we can make a difference!

Please schedule appointments for the beginning or the end of the school day if at all possible in order to decrease classroom disruptions and avoid unnecessary absences. Send a note with your child if he/she needs to leave early. He/she must be signed out in the office by a parent/guardian. Children must be picked up from the office. Please do not go to the classroom to pick up your child unless otherwise directed by the office staff.

Students may not remain at school after dismissal unless supervised by an adult. If a student is still waiting at school more than 15 minutes after dismissal time, he/she will be placed in the After School Program. The parent/guardian will be responsible for all charges incurred for time spent in the After School Program.