Attendance

Any pupil subject to full-time education who is absent from school without a valid excuse three full days in one school year or tardy or absent for more than any 30 minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof, is a truant (Ed Code 48260).

Truancy/Chronic absenteeism is caused by a variety of issues, including chronic health conditions, housing instability, involvement with the juvenile justice system, and unsafe conditions in school, among many others. (https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/chronicabsenteeism/toolkit.pdf)

Early year absences correlate with reading difficulties and poor attendance patterns in later years. One California study found that only 17 percent of students who were chronically absent in both kindergarten and first grade were reading proficiently in third grade, compared to 64 percent of those with good attendance. The good news is that when students attend school regularly, they can see outsized literacy gains. (https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Attendance-in-the-Early-Grades.pdf)

Chronic Absenteeism is a primary cause of low academic achievement and a powerful predictor of which students will eventually drop out of school. (https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/chronicabsenteeism/toolkit.pdf)

Student Services can provide bus passes for some students who need transportation. We can work and coordinate with the family and site administration to draft a plan that will help students to attend school.

If you have specific questions about your child’s attendance, we recommend first contacting your child’s school.