Attendance Policy Proposal

Mission: Fair, Consistent and Clear

Problem
Strict enforcement of the law not Category by % Days Missed Due To
necessary for our basic aid district School Code 2G

High Achieving
Argonaut 1.0
Family centered
Foothill 1.3
Education is highly valued

Data depicting Unexcused Absences Redwood 0.7

(Code 2G) Due to Family Activity for
2015-2016 offered by SUSD is low
Saratoga 1.5
Problem
The notification of the strict enforcement of the law was:
Poorly done (Sources to new district stance regarding attendance policy enforcement varied*)

Misunderstanding within community arose as many parents were under the false impression that
families were allowed to pull their children out of school for up to 10 consecutive days without
any repercussions except run the risk of being removed from class roster if the 10 day limit
were exceeded *

*Point verified by a parent survey to community included in notes

Family events vs religious events

There is no reason for having a distinction between those, our families are just as sacred.
Problem
The enforcement of the law was not and is not being consistently executed even
today *
Unfair

Opens up the district to possible double standards and legal issues

District stance is excessively harsh and severe especially considering the data
provided by district as they do not indicate an overall concern to urge this
rigidity.
Strict enforcement and issuing accusatory letters goes in the opposite direction to improve
student/family connectedness.

Early identification of poor attendance can be achieved independently on whether

absences are or not excused. Early identification does not require the harsh
policies the district has insisted to follow this year.
Solution
The Parent Community has come together to present an attendance policy as the
California Education Law was amended on January 1st, 2013 to allow Districts to
define their own Board policies regarding attendance. It reads as follows:
Definition of a Truant
The California Legislature defined a truant in very precise language. In summary, it states that a student missing more than 30
minutes of instruction without an excuse three times during the school year must be classified as a truant and reported to the proper
school authority. This classification and referral helps emphasize the importance of school attendance and is intended to help minimize
interference with instruction. Effective January 1, 2013, the law was amended to authorize school
administrators to excuse school absences due to the pupils circumstances, even if the excuse is
not one of the valid excuses listed in the California Education Code (EC) or the uniform standards
established by the governing board of the district.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ai/tr/
Solution
The parent community believes it needs an inclusive attendance board policy that embraces the
importance of education, family, and the well-rounded student creating a joyous atmosphere of respect,
understanding and overall excellence.

The possibility to craft a board policy unique to our district intended to discourage truancy is also
encouraged by the California Department of Education in their School Attendance Improvement
Handbook can be read in chapter 2 under section Board Policy
(http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ai/cw/documents/schoolattendance.pdf).

A quote from that section reads:

Education Code Section 48340 calls for all school districts and county offices of education that maintain classes in
active involvement
kindergarten and grades one to twelve, inclusive, to adopt pupil attendance policies based on the
of parents, pupils, teachers, administrators, other personnel, and community members.
Outcome
Mirror the same liberties as experienced in the past where this time the school
through board policy is able to employ discretion and code the different types of
absences accordingly. Currently the school is following CA Education law without
the flexibility it allows and the strictness of this law may be required in other
schooling environments but definitely not ours, as indicated by the data offered by
the district.
Data offered by SUSD:
Further Analysis of SES Code 2G Data for 2014-
2015
Graph below is from data obtained from SUSD: SES Code 2G (Family Activity
Spreadsheet) for 2014-2015.This graph totals 890 absences. Regardless of the
concerning different values of 2G absences from supposedly the same data source
(SUSD Data) for SES that year, it is clear that families do take school attendance
seriously.
Data Illustrates Zero Concern for SUSD Attendance
Statistical numbers on interventions (number and types of interventions) should be
provided to support the claims that the school needs stricter attendance policies.
The data on unexcused absences (average and detailed) suggest that none of the schools in our
district have a problem with absenteeism. Test scores show that the district does not have an
issue with academic performance either. So implementing a harsh policy is nothing but
counterproductive. It puts the parent community at odds with administration, and devotes time
to these discussions, resources that are just wasted instead of being used in other more
important areas.

The currently implemented attendance policy is too harsh, over the top and in the light
of the previous facts unnecessary.
Therefore, the parent community have come together to provide the district with an attendance
policy that embraces our community.
Data Illustrates Zero Concern for SUSD Attendance
The district data indicated in district slides seems to be in possession of a wealth
of data on past absences and should use those already to inform their current
decisions.

Stating that the academic year of 2016-2017 is the first year data will be
collected to compare with subsequent years is misleading as it could
suggest that all that has been displayed is wrong. There are definite
inconsistencies as highlighted herein.
Data Illustrates Zero Concern for SUSD Attendance
Data shows families were not and are not an abusing community but given the current
Draconian interpretation of the law by the District the parent community has come
together to draft an attendance proposal worthy of our community. This crafted
attendance proposal was handed over to our Superintendent and all District board
members. In summary the proposal seeks:

The explicit broadening of the definition of excused absences

All travel required to attend an excused absence should be excused

All excused absences should be allowed up to 10 days in an academic year

District should allow a reasonable arrival time when unforeseeable weather/conditions prove
hazardous before issuing tardies. We want our children to be safe!

Develop a practice that encourages perfect attendance and reward those students who do
have them rather than the offensive approach currently employed.
Highlight the main points from our parent community
Excuse a number of family events by policy, not by exception.

No discrimination between religious and family events.

Remove any labeling of truancy of all children who are clearly thriving
socially/emotionally with solid family support in this academic year
because of the evidence submitted showing inconsistencies, more
precisely, families who have left for over 3 days and were not issued
truancy letters. This is unacceptable, unfair and inconsistent. Until a
clear policy is adopted and thoroughly publicized for at least one
month and continued at every opportunity as suggested in CA Ed
Handbook then refrain from issuing truancy letters. This inconsistency
will lead to a class action lawsuit against the district.
Closing questions
How many SARBs has the district formally taken part in?

How many interventions were there by severity?

Why do you feel this unreasonable policy is needed when the district has the
option, by law, to draft a policy that is more appropriate and in accordance to
the values of our district?

Thank you to all!