Grand Terrace High School Attendance Policies

Grand Terrace High School believes that arriving to class on time builds responsibility and maximizes instructional time that leads to increased student achievement and success. In order to effectively and fairly monitor attendance, no passes will be issued by staff members for the first and last ten minutes of any class period. It is the intent of GTHS administration to minimize classroom interruptions and provide students and teachers the opportunity to complete objectives daily.

Sign In/Out

• Eighteen year olds have the right to sign in/out of school and clear their absences on their own. The expectation is that students who sign themselves out will NOT be able to return without a doctor’s note.
• Parents must come into the office to release their students. Students will not be released by parent email or parent phone call.

TYPES OF ABSENCES There are many types of absences recognized by the CJUSD, in accordance with California Education Code 48200.

• Qualified absences: Due to illness, doctor/dentist appointments, family funeral or court appearance of the student. The State of California allows one (1) day excused for an in-state funeral and three (3) days for out-of-state funerals.
• Unqualified absences: Excused by parents for reasons other than recognized in Qualified Absences, including family emergencies.
• Truancies/Unverified absences: Absences not authorized by parent/guardian, not notified within 72 hours and not authorized by school personnel.
• Suspensions: Absences mandated by school officials for disciplinary reasons. In addition, some absence codes note that a student was not in class, but was in the office or on a school activity.

ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES

When a student is absent, the parent/guardian MUST call or send a note to the attendance office WITHIN 72 HOURS to inform the school of the absence. The note must consist of the student’s name, grade and reason for absence, (THIS IS REQUIRED BY CALIFORNIA STATE LAW). Parents have 72 hours to provide a reason for absence, after which the absence is considered a truancy/unverified absence for each period missed. *BY STATE LAW, any student who misses three (3) days or more due to truancy, is declared a habitual truant and will be reported to the appropriate juvenile/law enforcement agency.

PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARD

Awards are distributed each semester to those students with Perfect Attendance. Students must be continuously enrolled since Day 1 of the semester and present and on-time for all periods each day in the semester. Any absence (including illness, court, funeral, etc.) will disqualify a student for the Perfect Attendance Award.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REQUIRED BY LAW

(ED. CODE § 48200, 48290) California Education Code 48200 states: Each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years not exempted under the provisions of this chapter is subject to compulsory full-time education…and each parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of the pupil shall send the pupil…for the full time designated as the length of the school day by the governing board of the school district in which the resident of either the parent or the legal guardian is located.

Four types of absences:

1. Excused [qualified] absence due to illness, medical, dental, death in immediate family, court for the student, religious holiday.

2. Unqualified absence is an absence with parent consent for reasons other than qualified. Ex: vacation, accompanying parents to parent’s appointments, staying home to take care of a sibling etc.

3. Unverified absences are absences that have not been verified through parent contacting school either via phone, email, or note.

4. Truancy EC Section 48260 (a): Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without a valid excuse three full days or tardy or absent more than any 30-minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year.

CHRONIC AND HABITUAL TRUANCY EC Section 48263.6: Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without a valid excuse for ten percent or more of the school days in one school year, from the date of enrollment to the current date, is deemed a chronic truant. EC Section 48262: Any pupil is deemed a habitual truant who has been reported as a truant three or more times per school year. Students who are chronically and/or habitually truant may be subject to the following possible consequences: revocation of student parking permit, detention, Saturday school, SART-a meeting with the parent and student including an attendance contract, DART-a meeting to review the student’s current school placement, citation, SARB-meeting with school and law enforcement to determine parent/student consequences, referral to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office or probation, request for the parent to attend school with the student for one day, as well as any other consequences pursuant to the California Education and Penal Codes. EC Section 48260.5 allows the courts to suspend, restrict or delay a pupil’s driving privilege pursuant to Section 13202.7 of the Vehicle Code for Chronic Truancy.

PARENT PENALTIES PER THE EDUCATION AND PENAL CODES

EC Section 48293 (a): Any parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any pupil who fails to comply with this chapter, unless excused or exempted there from, is guilty of an infraction and shall be punished as follows:

1 st conviction = $375 w/P&A

2nd conviction = $750 w/P&A

3rd conviction = $1,500 w/P&A

EC Section 48293 (c): The court may also order that the person convicted of the violation of subdivision (a) immediately enroll or re-enroll the pupil in the appropriate school or educational program and provide proof of enrollment to the court. Willful violation of an order under this subdivision is punishable as civil contempt with a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000). Penal Code Section 270.1. (a) A parent or guardian of a pupil of six years of age or more who is in kindergarten or any of grades one to eight, inclusive, and who is subject to compulsory full-time education or compulsory continuation education, whose child is a chronic truant as defined in Section 48263.6 of the EC, who has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the pupil's school attendance, and who has been offered language accessible support services to address the pupil's truancy, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.