Attendance
Attendance
Attendance Office:
Phone 1: (619) 710-2380
Phone 2: (619) 710-2341
Office Hours: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm
Attendance Technician: Elizabeth Cardenas
Email: Elizabeth.Cardenas@sweetwaterschools.org
Attendance Coordinator: Mirka Sanchez
Email: Mirka.Sanchez@sweetwaterschools.org
Attendance Information FAQ
Attendance Policy
Click here on how to track attendance and receive attendance notifications.
Oprima aquí cómo realizar un seguimiento de la asistencia y recibir notificaciones de asistencia.
To clear attendance:
Call: (619) 710-2380 or (619) 710-2341.
Send a note: student name, date to clear, parent/guardian name, phone number, and signature.
- Emails to Attendance Technician are an accepted method to clear attendance, but we will contact parent/guardian to verify message.
Submit a medical note. Prescriptions for medicine are not valid.
Blanket Excuses for students will not be accepted: e.g. “Please clear all my student’s absences.”
GUIDELINES:
- Students are required by state law to attend every class, every day.
- All absences are initially recorded as unresolved until a phone call, blue slip, or a note from the parent/guardian is received by the attendance office.
- An automatic phone message will be made home after each un-cleared absence.
- All absences related to sports, extra-curricular activities and/or testing take 24 hours to clear.
- Any student submitting in a forged or altered note or blue slip will face disciplinary action.
- Students and parents are encouraged to check their attendance and resolve any discrepancies as soon as possible by contacting the Attendance Office at (619) 710-2380 or (619) 710-2341.
ABSENCES:
All absences must be cleared by parent within 30 school days according to the SUHSD policy Regulation code 5113 (D). If absences are not cleared within 30 school days, the student must clear absences through Saturday school.
All parents/guardians and students are encouraged to download the Infinite Campus App to their phone/tablet in order to receive instant attendance notifications for when a student is marked absent or tardy in class.
- Attendance can be monitored on Infinite Campus: Tutorial on how to use infinite campus.
For a list of excusable reasons per Ed Code, please click here and read under Excused Absences.
EXCESSIVE EXCUSED ABSENCES:
According to the SUHSD policy Regulation code AR 5113 (D, E), it has been established that it is reasonable to be absent 1 day a month (equivalent to 7 days per semester or 14 days in a school year). Having more than 14 days of excused absences, may place your child under an “excessive excused absence contract”.
Students can clear excused, as well as unexcused, absences in Saturday School; one 4 hour Saturday School session will clear one full day absence.
Whenever an absence occurs for medical reasons, please make sure to provide a doctor’s note within 30 days, as these absences are coded differently.
If a student is absent 14 or more excused days, the following measure will/may apply:
- Contact by Attendance Coordinator
- Excessive Excused Absence Contract
- If contract is not followed: PRE-SARB Contract
- SARB (Student Attendance Review Board)
- A student with 9 full unexcused days absent will be subject to a hearing at the district office, which results in a parent and students signing an attendance contract with a truancy probation officer. If SARB contract is violated, student will be referred to the Juvenile Justice System and/or be placed on probation.
- Alternative school placement
UNEXCUSED ABSENCES:
The State of California believes that the first priority is that the child attends school on a daily basis. For example, Welfare & AFDC benefits may end or be reduced drastically, if a student misses more than 3 full days of school. Education Code Section 48260-48263 provides definitions and referral procedures for:
- Any student subject to compulsory attendance who is absent without a valid excuse more than three (3) days in one school year is considered a habitual truant.
- Any student defined as habitual truant who continues an unacceptable pattern of unexcused absences or tardiness may be referred to the district’s SARB.
- Any student showing low academic performance may also have their permit revoked.
- Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 601 describes the consequences for habitual truancy if a minor pleads or is found guilty by trial to include but not limited to:
- Being made a ward of the court (placed on probation).
- Having a driver’s license revoked or denied until age eighteen.
- Being placed in juvenile hall for violation of court order.
CHRONIC ILLNESS VERTIFICATION:
Students who have excessive tardies and/or absences due to their medical condition will need to have a doctor’s note on file for the current school year. Once the form is completed and signed, please turn it in to the school nurse.
OFF CAMPUS PASSES:
- Parent(s)/ Guardians must come in person to the attendance office to sign Off Campus slip and pick up the student. Proper identification is required and the legal name must match the guardian information listed in Infinite Campus. Students should not be waiting in the office for parent to pick up.
- No student will be released to anyone that is NOT listed as the guardian in Infinite Campus.
- Students who are 18 years old or older and drive to school need to provide a note with the following information before being released off campus:
- Student Name
- Reason for leaving
- Student ID#
- Student Phone Number
** NOTE – We do not release students when there are only 15 minutes left in the day. **
EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION CARDS:
Every student must have accurate, updated emergency information on file in the nurse’s office and the Attendance Office. The cards list the physician’s name and other emergency contacts.
Please note: No student will be released to anyone that is NOT listed on the student’s emergency card. Proper identification is required for anyone picking up a student and the legal name must match the emergency card’s information.
INDEPENDANT STUDY:
If a student needs to be absent from school for 5-15 days, an Independent Study Contract must be completed:
Parent(s)/guardians must notify the assistant principal to submit an Independent Study Master Contract Agreement request 72 hours before the absence is scheduled to begin. This request must include the student’s full legal names, the dates the students will be out of school, parent/guardian signature, and the reason for the absence.
Students who are on an Independent Study Contract are expected to have all assigned work completed and ready to submit upon return. Failure to complete work will result in unexcused absences and not receiving classroom credit, this impacting their academic grade.
TARDIES:
- A tardy is defined as the following:
- Any student who arrives late to school 29 minutes or less (Block Schedule) will be marked tardy.
- Any student who arrives late to school 14 minutes or less (All Periods 1-6 Schedule) will be marked tardy.
- Tardies must be cleared that same day by calling (619) 710-2380 or (619) 710-2341, sending a parent and/or doctor’s note with student to the Attendance Office.
- If you do not clear unexcused tardies, they can only be cleared by attending Saturday school or Lunch Detention.
District policy 5112 states “classroom participation is an integral part of the learning experiences provided to students in the schools of the district. To the extent the failure to attend a class results in a student attaining a certain prescribed minimum academic standards, this failure would properly be reflected in the grade the student receives”
- Citizenship grades will reflect unexcused tardiness as follows:
- 3 tardies = “C” citizenship grade
- 4 tardies = “D” citizenship grade
- 5 tardies = “F” citizenship grade