Attendance Definitions

Excused Absence – illness, medical doctor’s appointment, court appearance, religious event; Parent must report the reason to the attendance office within 72 hours of the absence. Students will be permitted to make-up any work missed due to an excused absence.

Unexcused Absence – An absence reported to the office within 72 hours that is NOT defined as excused. Students will not be permitted to make up work from an unexcused absence. Students who accumulate excessive unexcused absences will be subject to administrative disciplinary action and may receive a grade of “FAIL” due to poor attendance in that class. If a student recieves a grade of “FAIL” due to poor attendance in any class, it will be noted on the student’s report card that the failing grade was due to poor attendance. Make-up work will NOT be allowed in the case of unexcused absences.

Examples of unexcused absences include:

• Oversleeping
• Work scheduled during class time
• Non-medical appointments
• Personal reasons ( i.e. family vacations)
• Cutting school/truancy
• Leaving class/campus early
• Leaving class/campus without properly checking out through the office
• Leaving campus at lunch without an off-campus pass
• Not returning to school after lunch.
• “Cutting” class in any way

Truancy – an absence not reported by a parent within 72 hours of the absence. Students that have a truancy on their attendance record will be required to make-up the time they missed at Saturday School. Students will not be permitted to make-up work from a truancy.

Truant – Any student with 3 truancies or unexcused absences at any point within the school year.

Habitual Truant – Per Ed. Code Section 48262, a habitual truant is described as any student with 9 truancies or unexcused absences at any point within the school year. The school will report habitual truants to the School Attendance Review Board (SARB) for possible prosecution by the District Attorney for violation of compulsory attendance laws.