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Attendance FAQ's
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Positive, daily attendance is essential for student learning and correlates with student success throughout the school year. Missing school equates to missed learning opportunities.
Regular, on-time attendance directly correlates to academic performance. Good attendance is a shared responsibility between the student, parent/guardian, school and district. Parents/guardians are expected to send their students to school each day on time and to call if they are absent or tardy (late) within three schooldays.
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How can parents/guardians help?
- Emphasize the importance of attending school every day.
- Build routines that support attending and arriving on time.
- Talk to your student about the academic and social aspects of school.
- Encourage your student to participate in clubs or other activities.
- Call the office/attendance line if your student will be absent or tardy and indicate the reason for absence.
- Alert the school of any unique circumstance(s) that may be preventing your student from attending school… if we don’t know, we can’t help.
- If you’re wondering whether or not you should contact the school, the answer is YES.
- Be proactive: check your child’s attendance regularly through the Q ParentConnect website. Please visit the Front Office if you need a PIN or password. Due to the confidential data on Q ParentConnect, parents are required to present ID to obtain log-in information.
- When you receive an automated phone call regarding an absence, call the school immediately to report an absence. Please leave a message if all lines are busy. The line accepts messages 24 hours a day, including weekends.
- If you believe your student has mistakenly been marked absent or tardy, please call the front office.
- If your student has a fever, vomiting or is ill, keep your student home. Help your student differentiate between not feeling like coming to school and being too sick to attend school.
- PLEASE KEEP YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION UPDATED. Please complete all required annual updates for Q ParentConnect at the start of each school year. After this update period closes (on or around August 31st), contact the front office for any changes to parent and emergency contact phone numbers, email addresses, and changes to your home address. (Verification of address is required.)
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Does being tardy to school matter?
Yes. Students are expected to be in their classrooms when the school bell rings. If a student is not in his/her/their classroom on time, then the student will be considered tardy. Three unexcused tardies of less than 30 minutes equals one truancy. One unexcused tardy of greater than 30 minutes equals one truancy.
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How many illness days may my child take in a school year without needing a note from a doctor?
Students may miss up to 14 days of school in a year due to illness without needing to provide a doctor's note to excuse the absence. If parents/guardians take a student to the doctor while they are ill, parents/guardians are encouraged to obtain a note from the medical office verifying that your student was seen by a healthcare provider and excusing the number of days your child has or will be absent due to illness. Once a student has surpassed the 14 allotted illness days in a school year, the student may be required to provide a doctor's note or be evaluated by the school nurse/health clerk each time they are absent due to illness.
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How do “contacted unexcused” absences differ from “truancies?”
When a parent/guardian does not call the attendance office within three school days, the absence becomes a truancy. Absences cannot be excused after three days.
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Which absences are “contacted unexcused"?
Absences for any reason not listed above are “contacted unexcused.” For example, family trips, non-school athletic competitions, unforeseen family circumstances, and transportation difficulties are not reasons for which absences may be excused. When a parent/guardian notifies the attendance office of the reason for absence before the absence occurs, the absence will be marked “contacted unexcused” per the Education Code.
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What absences can be excused?
California Education Code section 48205 and CVUSD board policies state that absences for the following reasons may be excused:
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Personal Illness
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Quarantine
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Medical, dental, optometrical, or chiropractic services
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Funeral services of an immediate family member
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Jury duty
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Illness during school hours of a child to whom the student is a custodial parent
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Service as a member of a precinct board
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Participation in religious exercises or to receive moral and religious instruction
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Participation in a cultural ceremony or event
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Immediate family member who is an active duty member
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Attendance at the student’s naturalization ceremony to become a United States citizen
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Work in the entertainment or allied industry (work permit and not more than five school days)
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Participation with a nonprofit performing arts organization in a performance for a public school audience (five school days)
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Upon advance written request
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Appearance in court
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Attendance at funeral service
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Observation of a religious holiday or ceremony
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Attendance at a religious retreat not to exceed four hours per semester
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Attendance at an employment conference
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How does the office communicate attendance issues to parents?
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Automated phone call system—calls home when a student has been marked absent if the absence hasn’t already been cleared by the parent/guardian.
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Automated phone call system—calls home when a student has been marked tardy for class.
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Student attendance information can be viewed on Q ParentConnect.
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Reporting Absences
Absence Line/Front Office
(805) 492-3531Please call our front office to report an absence every morning before 9am. on the day(s) that your child will be absent from school. The attendance line accepts messages 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
IMPORTANT:
- Please DO NOT rely on your child's teacher to report your child's absence. It is the parent's responsibility to report an absence to the office.
- Please DO NOT put notes from medical providers excusing your child's absence into your child's backpack. This documentation must be provided directly to the front office.