Attendance

Regular school attendance is a necessary part of the learning process and the means to graduate with a quality education and a diploma. Frequent absences put a student’s education and future in jeopardy.

Parents/guardians are obligated to send their children to school and a student’s absence shall be EXCUSED only for the following reasons:

1.  Personal Illness
2.  Quarantine
3.  Medical Appointment
4. Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family: 

a.      Excused absence in this instance shall be limited to one day if the service is conducted in California or three days if out of state.

b.      “Immediate family” shall be defined as mother, father, grandmother/father, brother, sister or any relative living in the student’s home

a.       Appearance in court

b.      Attendance at funeral service

c.       Observation of a holiday or ceremony of student’s religion.

d. Attendance at religious retreats not to exceed four hours per semester

       8. Participation in religious instruction or exercises in accordance with district policy.

SHORT-TERM INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM

Short-Term Independent Study may be an option for students who have unavoidable absences and will be absent for three (3) to fifteen (15) consecutive days. Eligible students may have their parent apply for a Short-Term Independent Study contract at the school attendance office at least five days before the student absence begins. If a student must be gone for more than 15 days, the student must be withdrawn from the Travis Unified School District and enrolled in the destination district. 

If a student does not meet the eligibility requirements for a Short-Term Independent Study contract, the absences will be considered to be “unexcused”, and will be added in when considering truancy referrals for the student.

• Short-Term Independent Study contracts will not be issued during state testing periods, nor during finals weeks which are the last week of each semester.
• There can be no more than two (2) Short-Term Independent Study contracts granted per student per school year.
• All contracted work must be submitted to the school on the contracted day of return and will be kept on file for audit records.
• If all the contracted work is returned with satisfactory progress, the student will maintain a clear attendance record. If the student’s work is unsatisfactory, or incomplete, the school can only grant excused days of absence for the amount of satisfactory work returned.
• The additional days of absence will be considered unexcused, and will count towards truancy limits.
• If a student had any unexcused absence(s) due to failure to complete work on an initial Short-Term Independent Study contract, a second Short-Term Independent Study contract will not be granted for that school year.

Independent Study Master Agreement.pdf

METHOD OF ABSENCE VERIFICATION

When a student returns to school after an absence, they MUST present a satisfactory explanation verifying the reason for the absence within 3 days.  After 3 days w/out verification of an excused reason, the absence will be considered unexcused and the student will be considered truant. The following may be used to verify absences:

1.   Written note from parent/guardian, parent representative, or student if 18 or older that is listed on the students contacts. (EC46012)

2.  Conversation, in person or by telephone, between the verifying employee and the student's parent/guardian or parent representative. The employee shall subsequently record the following:

a. Name of student

b. Name of parent/guardian or parent representative

c. Name of verifying employee

d. Date(s) of absence and reason for absence

3.   Visit to the student's home by the verifying employee, or any other reasonable method which establishes the fact that the student was absent for the reasons stated. A written recording shall be made, including information outlined above.

4.    Physician's verification

a. When excusing students for confidential medical services or verifying such appointments, district staff shall not ask the purpose of such appointments but may contact a medical office to confirm the time of the appointment. 

b. When a student has had 10 absences in the school year for illness verified by methods listed in #1-3 above, any further absences for illness must be verified by a physician.

 5.  Any other reasonable method that establishes the fact that the student was actually absent for the reasons stated.  A written record shall be made, including information outlined above.    

When a student arrives to school 10 or more minutes late, whether it is excused or not, they must report to the Attendance Office before going to class to have his/her arrival time documented.  Absences and tardies not cleared within three days will be considered unexcused and count towards truancy.

A student with an excused absence from school will be allowed to complete all assignments missed during the absence and, upon satisfactory completion, be given full credit. The minimum number of days allowed for such make-up is equivalent to the number of days the student has been absent.  Students must contact teachers to obtain make up work.  

Teachers can be contacted via email.  The assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the student missed during the absence. A student may not have his or her grade reduced or lose academic credit for any excused absence when missed assignments and tests are satisfactorily completed within a reasonable period of time. (EC 48205, BP 5113)

A parent or guardian may request make-up work only after their student has been out for at least 2 days and is going to continue being out.  Please do not request work for 2 days or less of absences.  The work will be collected and brought up to the main office.  You may pick up the school work after 3:30pm and before 4:30pm the following day after the request is made.  Failure to pick up requested work could result in teachers not sending make-up in the future.  Please contact the office if anything changes regarding your request as soon as possible.  

Test and quizzes can and will most likely be made up during lunch and after school.  It is your students responsibility to talk to the teacher about a time to make up such missed items.  Also for them to collect any and all school that needs to be made up. 

All homework and school work that is due when the student is out due an excused reason will be given the opportunity to turn in those assignments upon returning to regular classes for full credit. 

Any questions regarding this matter or to request make-up work please call the attendance clerk @ 707.437.8240, option 1.

What is TRUANCY?

Students absent without a valid excuse for more than (equal to 3 full school days) in one school year shall be classified as truant and a truancy letter will be sent home.   After the first truancy, a student will receive an additional truancy letter for each additional 2 days of absence.  If a student receives 3 truancy letters, they are referred to the Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) for appropriate legal action. 

My student has an Inter/Intra-district Agreement, what does this mean for me? 

Inter/Intra-district Agreements may be revoked if standard attendance guidelines are not maintained.  At this SARB hearing, students will enter into a SARB contract. 

Reasons why my student could be or is truant...

• Family Vacations or if a student on Independent Study failed to complete all school work before returning to school
• Family Emergencies or Personal time off
• Unexpected issues; for instance family member delays for any reason(s), flat tire, car troubles, missed the bus, no transportation to school, etc. 
• Failing to communicate with attendance office when my student has been absent due to an excusable reason within the 3 day time frame.
• To attend graduations, retirement ceremonies, weddings, or any other non-excusable events, please contact attendance office for more details.

 When will my student receive a letter of truancy?