Embedded Files
BE PRESENT, BE CONNECTED, TOGETHER WE THRIVE!
Welcome to AUSD Student Support Services Attendance Information Page!
This hub provides parents, guardians, caregivers, staff, and students with information on the importance of daily attendance and how being present helps students stay connected, supported, and ready to learn. Explore resources, tips, and guidance designed to strengthen family-school partnerships and help every student succeed—together!
Click on our Table of Contents below to go directly to a section or scroll through the page for more information!
BE PRESENT
BE PRESENT
Learn about the resources and and information available to students and their families.
Family Tools and Activities
Family Tools and Activities
Visit our Family Tools & Activities section to find fun and meaningful ways to strengthen your family’s connection at home and school. These resources are designed to support routines, communication, and engagement, building the foundation for student success and well-being.
*Attendance Tracker 2025-2026 Final.pdfFamilySchoolPartnershipAct_AUSD2025 (1).pdfSafely Send Your Student to School.pdf10 Tips for Supporting Students During Exam Week.pdfFamily Winter Bucket List.pdfEat the Rainbow Tracker.pdfFamily Self Love Jar.pdfFamily Time Trivia.pdfFamily Book Walk.pdfAttendance Newsletters
Attendance Newsletters
Explore our Attendance Newsletters to stay informed and inspired! Each issue features helpful information for parents, guardians, and caregivers about the importance of school attendance, along with updates, tips, and stories that highlight how being present helps students thrive. Feel free to click on the images below to read them or download them!
September 2025
Attendance Awareness Month
2025-2026 - September Newsletter.pdfOctober 2025
Dropout Prevention Month
October 2025 Newsletter.pdfNovember 2025
Student Health and Wellness
November 2025 Newsletter.pdfBE CONNECTED
BE CONNECTED
Learn about school attendance rules and how it can impact your student.
Excused & Unexcused Absences
Excused & Unexcused Absences
Regular attendance is crucial for your child's academic success and overall well-being. When your child misses school, they miss out on important lessons, assignments, and opportunities to interact with their peers and teachers. This can lead to falling behind in their studies and feeling disconnected from the classroom environment.
Additionally, consistent attendance helps develop essential habits like punctuality and responsibility, which will benefit them throughout their lives. By prioritizing your child's attendance, you are investing in their future and setting them up for success!
Let's learn more about the difference between an excused and an unexcused absence below!
Students with more than 10 EXCUSED absences in a school year will need to have all absences, starting with their 11th absence, verified by a health professional.
Excused Absences are valid, school-approved reasons for missing class, such as illness, medical appointments, family emergencies, or religious events. These typically need a note from a doctor or an explanation to the school, and won’t negatively affect your child's record if the number of absences is not exceeded. A student is allowed 10 days of excused absences due to illness in the school year.
Unexcused Absences happen when a student misses school without an approved reason, like skipping class or being absent for reasons not covered by our school policy. These can lead to consequences like receiving low grades, ineligibility for school activities, warning letters, or meetings with school staff.
You can find out more information in our AUSD Parent and Student Handbook starting on page 4 !
Tardiness, arriving on time matters!
Tardiness, arriving on time matters!
We encourage all students to arrive at school on time every day. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with your child’s school bell schedule to help ensure a smooth start to their day.
If your child is late, they should bring an excuse from home to the school office. A student may be considered truant if they are tardy or absent for more than 30 minutes without a valid excuse on three occasions in a single school year. On PowerSchool this will show up as a TT on your student's attendance record.
Being late to school means missing valuable instructional time and can affect your child’s learning and academic performance. Tardiness can also disrupt the classroom, creating challenges for both your child and their classmates. Frequent lateness or rushing to get to school can increase stress and anxiety in children and adolescents. Over time, chronic tardiness may lead to students feeling disconnected from school and their peers. By helping your child arrive on time, you support their learning, confidence, and sense of belonging at school.
Parents have 10 calendar days to provide a valid reason to excuse an absence. If a valid reason is not provided within the 10 days, the absence is considered “unexcused”. State law declares a student truant when the student is tardy three times for more than 30 minutes each time, or if the student has 3 unexcused absences.
Written Excuses
Written Excuses
Following an absence, or tardy, a student is required to bring a written excuse from home when returning to school. Absences without a written excuse are recorded as unexcused. If a student is absent from school on a certain day, this student cannot attend any school activity or events including after school activity on such day.
What to Include in an Excuse Letter
When your child is absent from school, please include the following information in your written note, email, or message to the school:
Today's date
Student’s full name
Date(s) of absence
Reason for the absence (e.g., illness, medical appointment, family emergency, bereavement, etc.)
Parent/guardian name and signature (or typed name if sent by email)
Parent/guardian contact information (phone number or email)
Chronic Illness - Health Issues
Chronic Illness - Health Issues
If your child has ongoing health concerns or a chronic illness, you can complete a release of information form that allows our school nurse to speak with your child’s doctor. This helps us better understand how your child’s health may affect their attendance and how we can best support them at school. For students with serious medical conditions that prevent regular attendance, we also offer a Home Hospital Teaching option to help them stay on track with their learning while they recover.
If you’d like more information or need help getting started, please reach out to your school nurse or health office at your child’s school site.
TOGETHER WE THRIVE
TOGETHER WE THRIVE
Learn about how to work together with your student's school.
Student Attendance Intervention Team Meeting (SAIT)
Student Attendance Intervention Team Meeting (SAIT)
A School Attendance Intervention Team (SAIT) is a group of school staff, school administrators, and sometimes community partners who meet with you and your child to address attendance concerns and develop a plan for success. Their goal is to identify what is keeping your child from attending regularly, whether it is health, transportation, anxiety, late arrival, or something else, and work with you to find real-world solutions and supports. If we have sent you a notice and scheduled a SAIT meeting, it means your child’s attendance has reached a level of concern, and attending this meeting is required.
Parents or guardians may also request a SAIT meeting at any time during the school year. Typically, the school will schedule these meetings after sending a Second Notice of Truancy or Excessive Excused Absences Letter. Following this meeting, school staff may continue to reach out to you as the parent or guardian or meet with your student as needed to address challenges and provide intentional support so your child can stay on track academically and socially.
If you are invited to a school-related meeting and are concerned about attending without penalty from your job, you can learn more by reviewing our brochure on the Family School Partnership Act.
Home Visits
Home Visits
A home visit is when a school staff member, such as a school social worker, counselor, or administrator, comes to your home to check in with your child and family. The goal is to better understand any challenges that may be affecting your child’s attendance, learning, or well-being, and to provide support or resources directly to your family. Home visits are a way for the school to partner with you, address concerns early, and make sure your child has what they need to succeed academically and socially.
Student Attendance Review Board (SARB)
Student Attendance Review Board (SARB)
A School Attendance Review Board (SARB) is a formal meeting involving school staff, district representatives, and community agencies to address ongoing attendance concerns. The purpose of a SARB meeting is to review your child’s attendance history, identify challenges that may be affecting school attendance, and develop a structured plan with supports to help your child improve attendance and succeed academically.
Attendance at this meeting is required by law when your child’s absences have reached a level of truancy, and parents or guardians play a critical role in collaborating with the team. Following the meeting, the school and district will continue to monitor attendance and provide additional support as needed. Families and students are expected to follow the directives outlined in the SARB agreement; failure to do so may result in more serious consequences, including a referral to the California State District Attorney’s office.
If you are invited to a school-related meeting and are concerned about attending without penalty from your job, you can learn more by reviewing our brochure on the Family School Partnership Act.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Click on each dropdown to learn more!
What is the law about school attendance?
Each person aged 6-18 who is not exempt from the law shall attend school each day on time. A student with three (3) or more unexcused absences or tardies in excess of thirty (30) minutes, or a combination of the two in one school year is deemed truant. (EC 48200)
How do I report my child’s absence?
It is the parent’s responsibility to inform the school when the child is absent. Please call the school office to report the absence. When the parent does not call the school to report the absence, the parent must send a note with the student giving the date(s) and reason for the absence immediately upon the student’s return to school. The note must include student first and last name, school ID# (if available), and be dated and signed by a parent.
When is my child too sick to come to school?
A student should stay home from school when the student has a fever of 100ºF or above. A student may return to school after 24 hours without a fever. The use of medication to reduce fever is not considered fever free. It is expected that the parent will notify the school office of the child’s absence.
When do I need a doctor’s note?
Parents must provide a doctor’s note stating a student is okay to return to school and list any restrictions on activities when the student:
has been absent for five (5) days or more due to an illness/injury;
has been hospitalized or treated by a doctor;
requires the use of any medical equipment or supports, including but not limited to crutches, casts, wheelchair, braces, wraps, etc.
has been absent for more than ten (10) days in the school year.
What are excessive excused absences?
Per Board Policy 5113, students absent for more than ten (10) days in the school year must have all absences verified by a health professional beginning with the 11th absence. Parents of children with chronic illness are encouraged to speak with the school nurse to best support student needs.
Absences not verified by a health professional, will be considered unexcused.
What happens when a student is truant?
EC 48260.5 requires that the school notifies parents of truancy and the consequences resulting from possible non-compliance with California laws regarding compulsory education. Parents are obligated to compel their child to attend school:
The parent is notified by mail of truancy and, if attendance does not improve, then;
Meeting with the School Attendance Intervention Team (SAIT) and, if attendance does not improve, then;
Meetings will discuss potential educational, physical, and mental health and supportive services.
Referral to the School Attendance Review Board (SARB) and, if attendance does not improve, then the student and family may be referred to the District Attorney's Office.
Where can a parent go for help when a student doesn’t go to school?
Parents/Guardians are encouraged to speak with the school principal, assistant principal, counselor, nurse, psychologist, teacher, the school community coordinator, or school resource officer for resources and support.
I want to attend a meeting with my student's school but I am worried about taking time off from my job, what do I do?
If you are invited to a school-related meeting and are concerned about attending without penalty from your job, you can learn more by reviewing our brochure on the Family School Partnership Act.
I received a First Notice of Truancy or Excessive Excused Absences Letter in the mail, what do I do with that?
This notice is to inform you that your child’s absences have reached a level of warning and may begin placing them at risk academically and socially. It is imperative that you address this immediately to prevent further setbacks. Please follow up with your student’s teacher(s) and the front office to clarify any unexcused absences, and review your student’s attendance history in the Parent Portal on PowerSchool. If there are challenges in your family affecting your student’s attendance, contact the school immediately so we can work together on a plan to support your child’s success.
I received a Second Notice of Truancy or Excessive Excused Absences Letter in the mail, what does this mean?
If you received a Second Notice of Truancy or Excessive Excused Absences Letter, this means your child’s absences have continued to be a significant concern. This notice is more serious than the first and indicates that the school is now taking formal steps to address the pattern of absences.
As part of this process, a School Attendance Intervention Team (SAIT) meeting has been scheduled, which you and your student are required to attend. The purpose of this meeting is to review your child’s attendance, discuss underlying challenges, and work together to develop a plan to improve attendance and support your child’s academic success.
It’s important to attend this meeting, come prepared to discuss any challenges affecting your child’s attendance, and collaborate with the school so we can prevent further absences and potential formal interventions, such as a SARB (School Attendance Review Board) referral.
Page updated
Report abuse