We encourage parents to help their children be punctual and to avoid unnecessary absences. Please call the attendance line (707-259-9050) in the morning each day your student is absent. Please note that even when you call to let us know your child will not be at school, it is not automatically excused. For example, if a family is going on a trip and informs us that they will be away, this will still get documented as unexcused absence. Absences may be excused only for illness, medical/dental appointments or death in the immediate family & religious observances. We keep track of unexcused absences to help us determine truancy issues.

ABSENCES

Parents of a child who has more than three unexcused absences will receive a truancy letter. If attendance does not improve after the third letter, parents may be referred to the Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) to work out a program with various school and support agencies to insure the child gets to school on time.

TARDIES

Please be conscientious about helping your children get to school on time. It is ideal when a student is in their chair ready for their instructional minutes which begin at 8:05. Teachers start their classes with instruction for the morning lessons. Students who do not receive this information play catch-up all day. Being prompt is an important characteristic that serves students well in junior high, high school and in the world of work. Good habits start early.

ED CODE

California Education Code Section 48260 declares a student as truant when they have three unexcused absences, three tardies in excess of thirty minutes, or any combination of the two. Students who are declared truant three times in a given school year may be declared a habitual truant. Students who are truant and those with excessive tardies will be referred to the District School Attendance Review Board (SARB) after a School Attendance Review Team (SART) meeting with the school site administrator.

Independent Study:

If you are going to be gone for 5 or more consecutive days, you are eligible to sign up for independent study. Only completed independent study packets receive full attendance credit. This contract must be signed in advance by all parties (student, parent, teacher). You must give the teacher a minimum 10 school days to prepare a packet. The expectation is the student will do 4 hours of work a day. The work must be submitted to the teacher on the day the student returns to school. The contract can be signed and submitted for our attendance audit. Students who do not complete an independent study contract will be marked unexcused and considered truant by state law.

We do not want to minimize the importance of keeping your child at home when they are ill. We appreciate you keeping the health of all students and staff in mind when making this choice to keep your child at home. Our #1 reason for absences are for short-term vacations and days missed for appointments, not for student illness. Should you have any further questions, please reach out to me!

Did you know that you can submit attendance notes in ParentSquare? For any absences not excused during the day, you will receive a message from ParentSquare that evening informing you of your student's absence. You can find out more about how to submit an attendance note through ParentSquare here. (Información en español sobre cómo enviar notas de asistencia aquí.)