Attendance Information

Friendly reminders from Attendance: 

Reporting: 

If your student will be absent from school for any reason, please call the school each day your student is absent. Call 510- 537-1919 extension 1 and leave a message on the attendance voicemail box.  Please state the student’s full name, the reason for the absence, the date(s) of the absence, your name and relationship to the child, and the teacher’s name and room number. Our attendance voice mail may be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  If possible, please make an effort to call in your student’s absence and/or tardy the night before or morning of, no later than 9:00 am. If you are not able to, you can expect me to reach out. If I don’t receive notification and/or am not able to reach you, your student will be marked with an unverified absence, unexcused, until I receive communication. Please Note: parents have 48-hours to call in, report and clear an absence.

Legally Excused Absences (Education Code 48205)

A student may be excused legally from school when the absence is for the following reasons:

1. Personal illness or injury.
2. Quarantine under the direction of a county or city health officer.
3. Medical, dental, optometry, or chiropractic services rendered.
4. Attendance at funeral services for a member of the immediate family.
5. Jury duty in the manner provided by law.
6. Pupil is custodial parent of a child who is ill or has a medical appointment during school.
7. Exclusion for failure to present evidence of immunization.
8. Exclusion from school because student is either the carrier of a contagious disease or not immunized for a contagious disease.
9. Pupils in grades 7 – 12 who leave school (with prior approval of the Principal, or his/her designee) to obtain confidential medical services.  The pupil is to return a copy of the medical professional’s appointment verification form.
10. Upon written request of the parent or guardian and prior approval of the Principal, or his/her designee and pursuant to board policy, a student’s absence may be excused.  Reasons include, but are not limited to:

1. Appearance in court.
2. Observation of a holiday or ceremony of his/her religion.
3. Attendance at a religious retreat not to exceed four (4) hours per semester.
4. Employment interview or conference.
5. Attendance at funeral services for someone not a member of the immediate family.
6. Family emergencies.
7. Appearance at SARB or SART.

Tardy Procedure: 

School begins at 8:10 with the first bell ringing at 8:07. For students less than 10 minutes late, arriving before 8:20: students should go directly to class where he/she will be marked tardy by the teacher. For students arriving more than 10 minutes late, after 8:20: please walk your student to the office to obtain a late pass to provide to the teacher. We urge parents to strive for punctuality so each child starts his or her day on a positive note.

Procedures for when your child is sick:

 If your student is not feeling well, please keep them home until they are well enough to be comfortable, and have a great day at school.  If your student is displaying any symptoms of Covid-19 we strongly recommend that you test them before they return to school to rule out covid.  You do not need to provide us with any proof of testing, but we appreciate any updates provided. If you need a kit, please let us know so we can help. Remember that students with fever, vomiting or diarrhea cannot come to school until those specific symptoms have resolved completely without medication for a full 24 hours. 

Procedures for positive result of Covid-19: 

Please call the school office if your student tests positive for covid-19. From there, you will receive an email with a Google Form questionnaire to fill out so we can determine the timeline and return date for your student. Please fill that out as soon as you’re able to, once the google form is completed another email with the official Isolation Letter and Instructions for Early Return will follow. The idea is that this process is quicker and easier than last year, but please note you’ll be receiving 2 emails with this process. Similarly, to last year, your student can return after 5 days of isolation if they’re able to test negative and are cleared through the district nurses.

Attendance Requirements:

According to Education Code 48260, any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without 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 and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor. Any student 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.

Truancy Interventions (unexcused absences)

3 absences - 1st Truancy Letter - serves as a reminder to the parent/guardian to address the student’s attendance issues and to avoid possible future truancy.  

6 absences - 2nd Truancy Letter - Student Attendance Review Team (SART) Meeting with the Principal or Assistant Principal, Counselor, Parent, and Student (Attendance Contract)

9 absences - 3rd Truancy Letter - Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) Meeting at the District Office.  This is a truancy mediation program mediated by the county's district attorney or probation officer, and/or a juvenile court.  Also in attendance are the Student Resource Officer (SRO), District Personnel, School Administrator, Parent, and Student.

Excessive excused absences – after 10 excused absences for illness, an Illness Letter is automatically generated, and a doctor’s note is required for every subsequent absence.  When there is no doctor’s note, the absence becomes unexcused and truancy letters will be generated. Please Note: a doctor's note is required upon return, or within 48-hours of the first day back.

Truancy issues may lead to ineligibility for extracurricular activities i.e., dances, sporting events, and field trips.

Student Travel When School Is in Session:

The Castro Valley Unified School District discourages student travel when school is in session.  If you must travel when school is in session, please follow the guidelines below regarding Independent Study in order for the absences to be excused.  Remember to give the teachers one-week prior advance notice if you are traveling so that they have time to get the work together.  If they aren’t given the required notice, you may not be able to get the work and the absence will be considered unexcused.

Independent Study: 

If an unavoidable circumstance comes up during the school-year in which your student may need to be absent for 3 days in a row or more, there is the option to do short-term independent study. This is a contract in which your child would agree to do work remotely as make-up attendance credit for the days missed. Once the student returns to school, all completed work must be turned into the teacher.  If the student does not complete all assigned work, future requests may be denied. Independent Study contracts can begin when a student is absent for no less than 3 and not more than 10 consecutive school days with a cap of 15 annual days. No independent Study agreements are allowed the first 10 days of the year, nor the last 15 school days of the year, and require at least a 10-day advanced notice for processing. Please inquire with me, or your student’s teacher. 

Note:  If a student on an IEP is requesting a Short-Term Independent Study Contract, the Program Specialist must be notified immediately so that appropriate IEP documentation can be 

determined.

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