Terms & Definitions

This definition comes from California law (EC 48200)

Students must attend school full time, for the full school day

"Each parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of the student" is responsible for sending the child to school

California law determines what reasons for absence schools are allowed to excuse (EC 48205, EC 48225.5, EC 46010.1)

Just because an absence is called (or emailed) in does not mean it is automatically excused

Notifying the school when a student is absent is important, even if it is for an unexcused reason.  When students are present on a scheduled school day, school staff worry about where they are and whether they are safe

A site administrator may request documentation to verify the reason for the student's absence; is the responsibility of the parent/guardian and student to establish the nature of the absence to the satisfaction of the principal or designee (AR 5113)  

Absences that are not called in or verified as excused within 2 school days after the student returns to school automatically will be coded as unexcused (CUT) (AR 5113)

Students who are absent for an excused reason must be allowed to make up missed assignments and tests (or a reasonable equivalent) for full credit as long as the work or test is completed within 2 days after the student's return to school.  (AR 5113, BP 5113, AR 6154, EC 48205)

It is up to the teacher's discretion whether to allow make up work for unexcused absences

School administrators have discretion to excuse an absence based on a student's specific circumstances (e.g., a family emergency) and may ask questions about the situation to determine if it is appropriate to excuse the absence (EC 48260(c))

The state does not give schools any funding for excused absences (EC 48205(d)); this is because in 1998, the state legislature passed SB 727 out of concern that schools were focused on getting excusal letters rather than actually attempting to identify and reduce barriers to students' school attendance

This definition comes from California law (EC 48260)

Truancy includes:

• • Arriving 30+ minutes late for an unexcused reason (VTY code in Infinite Campus)

  • Leaving 30+ minutes early for an unexcused reason (EDT code)

  • Full-day absences that are reported with an unexcused reason (UNX code) or not called in at all (CUT code)

  • Mid-day absences of 30+ minutes that are reported with an unexcused reason (UNX code) or not called in at all (CUT code)

California law (EC 48260.5) requires schools to notify a family when their child becomes truant

Notifications of truancy are sent after 3 days occur that meet truancy criteria, and again after another 3 truant days (EC 48261)

The school must attempt to hold a conference to discuss attendance concerns (EC 48262)

If the school is unable to resolve barriers to attendance through meeting with the family and collaborating on an attendance improvement plan, the student may be referred to the district-level School Attendance Review Board (EC 48263)

Defined by state law (EC 60901(c)(1))

Chronic absenteeism counts both excused and unexcused full-day absences

For a 180-day school year, this means missing 18+ full school days during the school year

Missing 20 school days is equivalent to missing an entire month of school!

Chronically truant = 10% or more of enrolled days are unexcused absences (EC 48263.6)

• A pattern of chronic absenteeism due to full-day ILL absences may result in a meeting with the school administrator or team and/or a formal attendance improvement plan 

• School administrators may require a doctor's note to excuse further ILL absences and medical/dental appointments for the remainder of the school year (AR 5113)

• Families of students with chronic health conditions impacting attendance should contact their school to inquire about how the school team can collaborate with the student's health provider to support the student's needs at school and continuity of learning if absences are unavoidable

This answers the question:  "How many students are absent at least 10% of the time?"

Calculated by dividing the number of students who meet criteria for chronic absenteeism by the total enrollment for a particular school (or district)

This is something the state measures every year, for every school and every district

District data for:   2023-2024   |   2024-2025    |    2025-2026

Schools or districts with high chronic absenteeism rates overall - or for defined groups of students (demographic groups, students with disabilities, socio-economically disadvantaged students, English learners, foster youth, or homeless youth) - may be required by the state to develop a plan for improvement

This answers the question: "How many days have students attended school?"

Attendance Rate is calculated by dividing the number of total times students attended school ("present days") by the total number of times they could have attended ("scheduled days"). 

Example:  If a school has 100 students:  Over a 5-day school week, there would be a total of 500 possible times that students could attend school.  (100 students x 5 days = 500 possible days)

• • 10 students were absent the whole week (10 x 5 = 50 absent days)

  • Another 10 students each missed a single day that week (10 x 1 = 10 absent days) 

  • 50 + 10 = 60 absent days that week, leaving 440 present days out of a possible 500 days

  • 440/500 = 88% attendance rate for that week of school 

Attendance rate is related to "Average Daily Attendance" or "ADA", which answers the question:  "On average, how many students are at school each day?"

ADA is used by the state in their formula to determine how much money a school district gets for the next school year.  Our funding for this school year is based on last year's ADA. (EC 42238 et seq.)

California is one of only six states in the U.S. that funds schools through Average Daily Attendance instead of by total enrollment (the other states are ID, KY, MS, MO, and TX) 

The school must attempt to hold a conference to discuss attendance concerns  (EC 48262)

The school team will collaborate with the family/student to develop an Attendance Improvement Plan.  This plan may include the school team offering services and supports such as counseling or academic interventions, connection to resources at school or in the community, and/or other school-based interventions and may also ask for a commitment from the family and/or the student to make changes with the goal of improving attendance.  The school should give you your own copy of the plan at the end of the meeting.

The school team will want to check in after 2-4 weeks to discuss how the plan is going, making adjustments if needed

Attendance Improvement Plans expire at the end of the school year, and may be revised or rewritten more than once during the course of the school year

The SRVUSD School Board appoints a panel each year to review cases of habitual truancy and severe chronic absenteeism referred by school teams that have exhausted the resources and interventions they can offer to address barriers to attendance (EC 48263)

The SRVUSD School Attendance Review Board partners with local agencies and collaborates with families and students to develop an agreement or provide directives and connect students and families to resources to address the underlying barriers to school attendance

Once they are referred to SARB, students may have their attendance monitored by the school and SARB until they turn 18 or they graduate, unless their attendance improves significantly

School teams monitor students' attendance and may request that SARB call a student back to SARB if their attendance is not improving and/or the family is not following through on directives

If a family/student displays willful and continual failure to follow directives of the SARB (including failure to attend school as directed), a petition against the student or parent/guardian may be filed in truancy court (EC 48263.5, EC 48291)

California law specifies the steps that school districts must take if a student's parent/guardian "continually and willfully fails to respond to directives of the school attendance review board or services provided" (EC 48290 et seq.)

Failure to respond to SARB directives may include continued absences and/or not following up on services and resources that the family was referred to and directed to utilize

Depending on the student's age, the family's level of responsibility for the absences, and whether the student has siblings who are also missing a lot of school, the court petition may be directed to either the student or the parent/guardian

When students are sent a notice to appear in truancy court, at least one parent/guardian is also sent a notice to appear along with the student

Truancy court in Contra Costa County uses a diversion program, where the judge may order the student/family to utilize referrals to supports and services intended to address the underlying causes of the student's absences