Attendance Information

 REPORTING ABSENCES

School attendance is compulsory under California Education Code Section 48200. Regular attendance is essential to a child’s learning. When a student is absent from school for any reason, a parent or legal guardian is required to notify the school within 48 hours. Our attendance voicemail may be accessed 24 hours a day 7 days a week by calling 727-9192, ext. 1. Please avoid unexcused absences as much as possible. 3 unexcused absences will be considered a truancy. 3 tardies in excess of 30 minutes is also considered a truancy.

We are funded by the state on the basis of each child’s attendance and only accrue funding on the days she/he is present at school.  If we have not been notified within the 48-hour period, the absence will be marked as unexcused.  According to California Education Code 48205, students may only be legally excused from school when the absence is for one of the following reasons:

Personal illness or injury (absences more than 3 days must be verified by a doctor’s note) If a student has more than 10 absences for illness in the school year as reported by a parent any further absences for illness must be verified by a physician.

 TARDINESS

Any student who arrives to class after the 8:10 bell must report to the office for a late slip before reporting to class.Please note that at 8:05 the warning bell rings. Students are welcome to come and eat breakfast at 7:45 am. Yard duty supervision begins at 7:55 and students can come and be on the blacktop at this time. Only medical appointments, with doctors’ slips are considered excused. Tardiness due to traffic or weather conditions are unexcused. We urge all parents to strive for promptness so that each child may start off his/her day at school on a positive note. Excessive tardies will result in a Student Attendance Review Meeting at the site level. If there is no improvement families will be referred to the District level Attendance Review Board.

 INDEPENDENT STUDY

In order to maximize student achievement and social/emotional growth and in accordance with California Education Code, it is expected that students will attend school every day. However, family situations do arise which necessitate emergency travel. When these rare situations arise, families may arrange a Short Term Independent Study Contract with the school. A short term Independent Study Contract is a voluntary alternative to a regular classroom program of instruction when a student is absent from school for not less than 3, not more than 10 consecutive, and not more than 15 cumulative school days. Independent study for family vacations or leisure travel that can occur during school breaks is strongly discouraged, since independent study cannot replicate the classroom instructional experience.

A completed Short Term Independent Study Contract must be submitted to the main office or attendance office, signed by a parent/guardian a minimum of 10 school days prior to the absence. The contract must include the dates of absences, return to school date, and reason for the request. The absence duration should be as brief as possible, as absences of more than a few days will negatively impact student learning. All requests must be approved by site administration. Parents should pick up all assigned work on the last day of attendance prior to the trip. Once the student returns to school, all completed work must be turned into the Attendance Office before the student returns to class. If the student does not complete all assigned work, future requests may be denied. Independent Study contracts at the end of the school year must be completed no later than fifteen school days prior to the last day of school. Independent Study contracts cannot be established during the first 10 days of the school year.

Note: If a student on an IEP is requesting a Short Term Independent Study Contract, the Program Specialist must be notified immediately so that appropriate IEP documentation can be determined. 

Please see CVUSD's Board Policy regarding  Independent Study for more information.