Attendance

ATTENDANCE PROCEDURES

Schmitt Attendance Hotline – 714-894-7264

Please call the attendance hotline when your child is absent from school. Leave the following information:

1. Student Name
2. Your relationship to the student
3. Student Grade/Teacher
4. Reason for absence

More detailed information is provided in your Student Rights & Responsibilities Handbook:

Excused Absence:
A pupil may only be excused from school for personal illness, city or county quarantine, medical, dental, optometry, or chiropractic appointments (please bring your child to school following the appointment with a note from the health care office); religious purposes; pupil court appearances; funeral of an immediate family member (1 day excused for in-state services; 3 days excused for out-of-state) (EC 48205). After 14 days of excused absences for illness, additional absences for illness will require a doctor’s note (except in the case of prolonged serious illness) (AR 5113). Prior approval must be obtained in writing from the school principal for justifiable personal reasons, including, but not limited to, an
appearance in court, attendance at a funeral service, observance of a holiday or ceremony of his or her religion, attendance at religious retreats not to exceed 4 hours per semester.

Unexcused Absence:

medication issues, headaches, extended vacations, conflicts
with other pupils, missed bus, car broke down, babysitting, asthma, head lice beyond two (2 days), or being “tired”. It is the parent’s responsibility to clear the child’s absence within 5 days or it will be marked unexcused.
California Education Code 48260 states:

1.Your child is legally a truant with 3 unexcused absences; a repeated
truant with 4 unexcused absences and a habitual truant with 5 unexcused absences.
2. Missing more than thirty (30) minutes of instruction during the school day (AM or PM) is considered truancy without a valid excuse.

Please be aware that California State Law (Education Code 48290) states that parents who fail to meet their obligation of insuring their child’s
regular school attendance are guilty of a law violation and are also subject to prosecution pursuant to Article 6. Excessive unexcused absences will result in an invitation to attend the Orange County District Attorney Parent Meeting and/or a referral to the District Pupil Attendance Review Board (SARB).

Absences for Religious Purposes:
After completing minimum day, pupils may be excused from school for religious purposes, not to exceed 4 hours per month. If a pupil’s religious training and beliefs conflict with instruction on health, sex education or family life, upon written parental request, the pupil may be excused from that part of theinstruction (EC 51240)

If you have questions, please call (714) 894-7264.

FOOTNOTE: Pupils placed on SARB Contracts, MUST abide by SARB Contract. The SARB Contract takes precedence over the above. SARB Contracts do not expire and remain in effect from year to year.