Monday, May 20, 2013

If your child is absent, please contact your child's classroom teacher or the office in person or by calling the absence line by phone. You may also e-mail monica.imperial@dsusd.us to leave an attendance excuse with the office.


IMPORTANT
Regular school attendance is critical for mastery of the instructional content being presented sequentially to your child at Benjamin Franklin Elementary.  Children learn hundreds of new skills/concepts during the school year and their understanding of these skills/concepts is dependent upon their daily attendance and participation.  Additionally, regular school attendance is important to a student, so that he/she may develop secure relationships with peers, the classroom teacher, and other support staff.

As parents, you control your child's attendance.  Every attempt needs to be made to guarantee good school attendance; however, circumstances do arise which necessitates a student occasionally missing school.

California State has a compulsory school attendance law(Education Code 48200).  The new attendance law(Education Code 46010-a) no longer allows any absences to be counted towards average daily attendance(ADA) collection.  Schools will receive funds only for those students who are in attendance.  If your child is absent, our school and district loses money!

ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES

If your child is absent from school for any reason, the parent needs to do the following:

1.  Call the school's absence line: 1-760-238-9424 and select option 1.
2.  Send a note with your child when he/she returns to school, explaining the reason for the absence, the date(s) of the absence, the current date, and your signature.
3.  Contact the classroom teacher to request assignments that need to be made up.

Attendance at school is very important and your child should be here unless he/she is sick or there is an unforeseen emergency.  Every effort should be made to schedule doctor and dentist appointments either before or after school and special family outings/vacations when school is not in session.

An excused absence is an absence from school caused by:
1.  Illness
2.  Quarantine directed by the  county health officer
3.  An appointment to obtain medical, dental, chiropractic, or optometric services
4.  Attendance at funeral services of a member of the student's immediate faily (Ed. Code 45194)1 day maximum, or 3 days maximum if services are held outside the State of California
5.  Appearance in court as a plaintiff, defendant, or witness
6.  Participation in a holiday or ceremony of the pupil's religion

 

Person Who May Verify Absences

  • School or Public Health Nurse
  • Attendance Supervisor
  • Physician
  • Teacher
  • Other Assigned Qualified Employee

Tardiness

Students entering the classroom after the 8:30 a.m. bell are considered tardy.  Students who are late MUST report to the office to check in and get a tardy slip to present to the classroom teacher.  Please set your clocks to coincide with "school time."

In order to keep parents informed about the number of tardies their child is accruing, letters will be sent to the home after 10, 15, and 20 tardies.  The 10-day letter will serve as a reminder of the compulsory attendance law.  The 15-day and 20-day letters will inform the parent/guardian of the potential consequences of additional tardies and will result in a conference with the principal.  The purpose of the conference is to determine the reason(s) for the tardies and to develop a plan to ensure prompt arrival to school.

 

Unexcused Absences (Examples)

  • Babysitting
  • Attending Wedding
  • Visiting Grandparents or Relatives
  • On Restriction
  • Going to a Theme Park