Attendance Policy

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Student absences have a direct impact on performance and grades. The Attendance Plan was devised to keep students in class and reduce the number of days absent. Students may have as many as 14 absence days per semester, which includes days for illness, non-citation related court dates, or other absences. Students enrolling after the second week of school have their allowable absences pro-rated.

Following is an outline of the attendance plan:

• Students who are absent 15 or more times from a class will receive a grade of Fail and be dropped from the class.
• Students will be enrolled in an alternate course for elective credits.
• Tardy lockouts are held every period during the day and students not in their seat when the tardy bell rings will be sent to a study room and receive an unexcused absence.
• The school will make every effort to notify parents of troublesome attendance patterns; however, it is the student’s responsibility to maintain satisfactory attendance.
• The fifteen-day absence policy includes excused/unexcused absences, absences due to suspensions, and tardy marks.

Attendance Appeal

As with all actions taken by the school, provisions have been made for due process through the Attendance Appeals Committee. Students have the right to appeal the Fail within five days of the 15th absence. However, the provisions of the attendance policy will be strictly followed. Appeals may be filed for extenuating and extraordinary circumstances. Some examples are: hospitalization or extended illness, death of immediate family member, car accident, court subpoena. An approved appeal reduces the absence below the 15th absence limit and results in absence credits for approved dates and the student will remain in the class. If the appeal is denied, the student will be removed from class and placed in alternative classes for elective credits as a non-required elective. Appeal forms are available in the Intervention Room, A-5.

• Student must meet the following criteria to qualify for an appeal:
• All absences must be verified with the Attendance Office before submitting the appeal
• Students with truant marks will not be allowed to file an appeal
• Documentation (doctor’s notes, court records, etc.) must be submitted with the appeal by the assigned due date

Failure to complete these steps before the appeal due date will result in an automatic denial of the appeal.

Right of Attendance

A change of address must be reported to the school in writing within 30 calendar days. A gas or electric bill and other documentation may be required. Failure to report a change of address, false address, or inaccurate residence information shall be cause for forfeiture of the right to attend GHC. The student may be transferred to the School of Residence immediately. If a student is checked out due to a false address, he/she is not eligible to apply for a permit.

Students who enroll as resident students must have a parent/legal guardian residing in the GHC attendance boundary. Persons providing false information under penalty of perjury also may be civilly liable for fraud and negligent misrepresentation. The School may forward information regarding fraudulent actions to local law enforcement. Please note that random address verifications and visits may occur throughout the year.

Other rules for attendance include:

Returning from an Absence

Students are expected to bring a written excuse signed by the parent to the Attendance Office within one day after returning to school in order to clear his/her absences. Medical absences of five days or more require the student to see the school nurse before being readmitted.

• Students with verified excused absences may be allowed to submit make-up work for credit.
• Any unexcused absence is treated as a truancy and students may be assigned up to two hours of detention and/or parent conference.

Periodic, One-Day Absence Due To Illness or Other Family Emergencies:

• If homework is posted online, students should make every effort to complete the assignment on time. However, if the nature of the absence prevents the student from completing the work (the severity of the illness, family emergency, lack of computer access, or homework is not posted on line) the student should request an additional day to make up the work for each day absent. Work that was assigned when the student was present maintains the original due date; students should verify the requirements for submitting a long-term assignment with their individual teacher.
• Teachers will assign alternative comparable work if specific classroom activities i.e. labs, videos, presentations, group assignments etc. cannot be made up by the student.
• In Advanced Placement classes, due to the nature of the class, the course requirements and the time restrictions necessitated by the testing schedule, it may not be possible for teachers to replicate class activities conducted on the day of a student’s absence, nor have alternative comparable work available.

Extended, Excused Absences:

• Arrange with teacher to pick up missing work.
• Teachers may give alternative assignments as make-up work where it is not feasible to replicate an assignment (i.e. lab work, presentations, group assignments, etc). Missed classroom instruction does impact a student’s performance on subsequent tasks.
• Teachers may recommend that the student attend tutoring to receive additional instruction.
• Parents of students who are absent two to four weeks and are unable to attend regular school due to a medical or psychiatric reason, must meet with school nurse and counselor to make the appropriate arrangements. Medical documentation must be provided and will be verified to support temporary home tutoring. Home tutoring cannot be provided for more than four weeks.
• Students who are absent more than four weeks and are unable to attend regular school due to a medical or psychiatric reason shall be encouraged to enroll at Carlson Home Hospital School until approved to return to school.
• The School Nurse will work with the parents to facilitate the application and enrollment at Carlson Home Hospital School. Students will be reinstated into their previous program when they are approved to return to school unless otherwise determined by the IEP or 504 team.
• Students who are hospitalized in a residential health facility will be enrolled at the residential facility and must attend the school in which the residential health facility is located. Students will be inactivated until they are approved to return to school.

Make-Up Work and Transfer Grades for Transfer Students:

• Transfer grades from any accredited school will be incorporated into the new class as per school policy.
• The student will work with the teacher to identify the materials, activities, concepts, and projects previously assigned that are necessary for the student to perform satisfactorily on subsequent tasks, including common assessments. Scope and quantity of make-up work will be reasonable and capable of being completed by the next grading period. Assignments will reflect department-wide curricular goals and Common Core required standards.

Make-Up Work for Transfer Students with No Transfer Grades:

• Teachers may use a subject-specific diagnostic test to determine student’s current performance level or subject matter proficiency so as to provide appropriate support and assistance.
• Reasonable comparable work may be assigned for a student in each discipline so that he/she may have an opportunity to follow current classroom instruction.
• A “No Mark” will be assigned to students entering at or after the 15th week of school

California Education Code 48205 provides that a student shall be excused from school when the absence is due to:

1. Illness
2. Quarantine
3. Medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic services
4. Attending the funeral of an immediate family member, e.g. mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, brother, sister, or any relative living in the immediate household of the student. (one day within the state, three days outside the state).
5. Jury duty
6. Participation in religious instruction or exercises in accordance with Charter School policy. (The student shall be excused for this purpose on no more than four school days per month.)
7. Illness or medical treatment of a child of whom the student is the custodial parent
8. Serving as a precinct member for an election
9. To permit the pupil to spend time with an immediate family member on active duty or uniformed services and for the pupil to spend time with family when the family has been deployed to a combat zone or combat support position. 
10. Attendance at the pupil’s naturalization ceremony to become a United States citizen.
11. Justifiable personal reasons when the pupil’s absence has been requested in writing by the parent and pre-approved by the executive director or designee. (Absences that fall into this category include, but are not limited to an appearance in court, attendance at a funeral service, observance of religious holiday or ceremony. For purposes of this section, attendance at religious retreats shall not exceed four hours per semester.)

Please Note: All absences, excused and non-excused, are counted toward the GHC Attendance Policy; tardy lock-out, or suspension, is not considered an excused absence. In the case of suspension, students will be afforded the opportunity to make up class work.

Absences from Final Exams

Students who miss final examinations due to verifiable medical reasons will receive an "incomplete". All incompletes must be processed through the Counseling Office. All cases are reviewed by a Final Exam Committee. Final Exam Appeal forms are available from the student’s counselor. Students who are absent the day of the final exam due to health reasons, will receive a Final Exam Appeal upon receipt of a physician’s note. If the final exam appeal is approved, arrangements must be made with the instructor to make up the exam within 21 the first six weeks of the next semester. At that time, the teacher will arrange to change the grade from an incomplete to a final subject mark. Failure to make these arrangements with the teacher within this interval, the teacher will submit a final grade that includes the evaluation of the final examination as a failing mark. Students will not be able to make up exams they miss for failure to follow this policy.

Early Leaves

If a student must leave early during the school day, he or she must bring a note signed by a parent/ guardian before school or at nutrition to the Attendance Office on the day of the early leave. Students must pick-up their early leave passes in the Attendance Office at nutrition, lunch or before leaving. If the student fails to submit the early leave request note to the Attendance Office by nutrition, the parent/guardian or anyone listed on the emergency card must come into the office to secure release. On Tuesday during Professional Development/ Gap Period, a parent/guardian must come into the Attendance Office to sign the student out of school.

1. Students who leave school without an early leave will be viewed as being truant and consequences outlined for truancy may be applied.
2. Reminder: Zero and 7th Period classes are official classes and an early leave must be obtained to be counted as an excused absence.
3. The student must be present for half of the class period plus one minute of the class period in order to receive full credit.
4. There are NO early leaves permitted during finals or testing.
5. Returning from an Early Leave - Student must check-in through the main entrance and report to room A5 with the original pass. The tardy policy will apply for students returning to school during a class period. ONLY documented appointments will be considered an excused tardy.

Tardy Lockouts

Tardy lockouts will be conducted all periods. Tardy students will report to the Intervention Room and will be retained the entire period and receive support for quiet study. This will result in an unexcused absence in that period/class. Chronic tardiness constitutes defiance. Students who are defiant may face disciplinary action and be required to attend a parent conference at the school. (See Tardy Policy)