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One of our biggest areas of focus this year will be student attendance. I want to be direct about why.
Over the past several years, we have seen a significant increase in full-day absences, late arrivals, early releases, and students missing individual class periods. It has also become too common for students to ask their parents to excuse them from school because they do not want to attend, want to leave early, or feel that nothing important is happening in class..
To put the problem into perspective, there were approximately four different days last year that students treated as unofficial “Senior Ditch Days.” Many of those absences were then reported by families as illness. We also had multiple days when our attendance staff had to prepare more than 200 “blue slips” for students to leave school early. The amount of staff time required just to process that many early releases was significant.
The impact goes far beyond the attendance office. When students repeatedly miss class, teachers must adjust instruction, reteach missed content, create and supervise makeup assessments outside of the school day, and provide additional individual support to help students catch up. This negatively impacts teachers and takes time away from planning and providing the highest-quality instruction possible for all students.
This message is not about students who are legitimately sick, have a medical appointment, experience a family emergency, or need to miss school for another valid reason. We understand that those situations happen. This is about preventable absences and a growing mindset that missing class is acceptable. Missing class does have a big impact, especially when it becomes a schoolwide pattern.
This year, SRHS will place a much greater emphasis on protecting instructional time, identifying concerning patterns early, supporting students who are experiencing legitimate barriers, and holding students accountable when they repeatedly miss school or class. Families play an important role in this effort. Please do not excuse your student from school simply because they do not want to attend, want to avoid a particular class or assessment, want to leave early, or are participating in an unofficial ditch day.
Please take a few minutes to read our 2026–27 SRHS Family Attendance Guide. It explains how to report an absence, late arrival, or early release; which absences may be excused; chronic absence and truancy; attendance recovery; and how attendance may affect dances, prom, senior activities, commencement, and other school privileges.
Attendance Expectations
Students are expected to attend every scheduled class, arrive on time, remain for the full period, carry a valid pass when outside class, and follow all sign-in, sign-out, and early-release procedures.
Parents and guardians are expected to report attendance information promptly and accurately, schedule appointments outside instructional time when possible, provide requested information or documentation, and work with the school when attendance concerns develop.
A parent or guardian may verify why a student was absent. Verification does not automatically make the absence excused. The school determines the appropriate attendance code based on California law, district policy, and the circumstances reported.
Students and families should review attendance regularly in PowerSchool and address possible errors promptly.
To support student success in the classroom, promote connections to campus, and ensure eligibility for school events including field trips, homecoming events, dances, prom, senior commencement, and ASB activities, students must:
1) Be present in all of their classes for the duration of the period,
2) Have a valid pass when out of class,
3) Maintain a 2.0 citizenship score, and
4) Exemplify the pillars of Falcon PRIDE.
Students with any AZW codes, more than three T codes per semester, or more than one full-day, parent-verified U code per semester in PowerSchool will be ineligible for the activities noted above. Codes include: Unverified-absence (A), truancy (Z), tardy (T), missed more than 30 minutes - unexcused (W), and unexcused (U). View all PowerSchool attendance codes.
Students Can Be Proactive:
If students are late to their next class for a valid reason, they should ask their previous teacher for a pass.
If students will miss school due to an appointment, they should remind their parent/guardian that they need to complete a Google Form 24-hours in advance.
Students should check their attendance in PowerSchool during advisory each week and speak with their teachers directly if they feel something is inaccurate.
Additional Important Information
Please review individual teacher's syllabus for classroom policies on attendance.
Seniors with any AZW truancy codes, more than three Ts per semester, or more than one full-day, parent-verified U per semester that have not been recovered are ineligible for their senior privileges, including prom and participation in the commencement ceremony or senior activities.
Students must have a valid pass when outside of class. Students found without a pass will be assigned to lunch study hall. Unserved lunch study halls will impact eligibility for school events including dances and senior privileges.
A valid pass includes the date, student name, time the student left, destination, teacher signature.
If students need to visit the nurse's office, counseling office, attendance office, or main office, they should first obtain a pass from their teacher.
Citizenship grades* are impacted by unverified-absences (A), truancies (Z), tardies (T), missed more than 30 minutes - unexcused (W), or unexcused absences (U) based on the SGT approved Citizenship Rubric.
*Citizenship is a 6-week grade. The senior citizenship district policy states that a student who earns a cumulative citizenship GPA below a 2.0 will not be allowed senior privileges which include prom and walking at graduation. Students must maintain the equivalent of a ‘C’ average (2.0) in academics and citizenship to be eligible for participation in interscholastic athletics and/or co-curricular activities, using the four-point citizenship grading scale. Any ‘U’ marks disqualify students from membership in the California Scholarship Federation and the National Honor Society. (AR 5121)
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