Attendance

1. Parent/guardian should phone the School Secretary between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ON THE DAY OF THE ABSENCE.  The reason and date(s) of the absence should be given during the phone call.  
2. If it is impossible to contact secretary by phone, student should bring a note signed by parent or guardian to the secretary when he/she returns to school. The note should include daytime phone # in case the absence needs to be verified.  After the first two weeks of school, notes will NOT be accepted if they do not include a daytime phone number or the student’s given first and last name. 
3. Any absence(s) not reported within 3 school days will be considered truant, and Saturday School will be assigned.  No absences will be cleared after 3-day grace period.  Remember it is YOUR responsibility to report any absence. 

Regular attendance and promptness to class is crucial to maximum learning.  Therefore, every attempt should be made to avoid absences that are not due to illness.  Absences are defined as follows:

1. EXCUSED ABSENCE:  Any absence due to a Doctor’s appointment (with doctor verification), quarantine under the direction of a county or city health officer, or a death in the immediate family, is considered EXCUSED.  Serving as a member of a precinct board for an election is also excused. Work missed during the absence will be made up at the teacher’s discretion and according to the timeline in their course syllabus.

·         Students may also be excused for court appearance (with court documentation), 12th grade student college visitation (with documentation from the college), and religious holidays (with both written permission from the parent/guardian, and written documentation from the supervisor of the activity). 

2. UNEXCUSED ABSENCE:  All absences other than stated above are considered UNEXCUSED.  Example:  Illness, without a doctor’s verification; business of any kind; out of town; staying home; missed bus; car trouble, etc.  Work missed during the absence may be made up within a reasonable time. These absences will count against the student when considering loss of credit.

3. TRUANT:  Any absence from class without parent/guardian knowledge and or approval will be considered a TRUANCY.  Any work missed because of the truancy may NOT be made up.  Remember that TRUANCY IS AGAINST THE LAW.

The following Attendance Codes are used in PowerSchool.  Each code identifies a reason for the student’s absence.  The chart below identifies whether the code is an excused or unexcused absence.  These codes are used to monitor students’ attendance each semester.

Code 48205: Excused absences; average daily attendance computation. 

• Section 48200 - A pupil shall be excused from school when the absence is:

1. Due to his or her illness, with a doctor’s verification.
2. Due to quarantine under the direction of a county or city health officer.
3. For the purpose of having medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic services rendered, with a doctor’s verification.
4. For the purpose of attending the funeral services of a member of his or her immediate family, so long as the absence is not more than one day if the service is conducted in California and not more than three days if the service is conducted outside California.  
5. Due to the illness or medical appointment during school hours of a child or when the pupil is the custodial parent. (pertains only to Cal Safe students).

• A pupil absent from school under this section shall be allowed to complete all assignments and tests missed during the absence that can be reasonably provided, and, upon satisfactory completion within a reasonable period of time, shall be given full credit therefore.  
   

The following procedures regarding class period absences, which are designated as, unexcused and truant will apply at Orange Cove High School for each semester.

    A)    6 absences per period, not due to extenuating circumstances, will result in a notice mailed home and Saturday school will be assigned.

    B)    9 absences per period, not due to extenuating circumstances, will result in a letter and parent/guardian contact notifying them that five (5) semester credits will be removed from the student in the class from which he/she is absent.  
A student may make up the period missed by attending a Saturday School for each of those periods in excess of 8 absences.  Credits will be reinstated at the end of the semester providing the student fulfills the Saturday School requirements and achieves a passing grade in the class that has been missed.  
        
        9 absences = 1 Saturday School
        10 absences = 2 Saturday Schools
        11 absences = 3 Saturday Schools
         
    C)    Parents/guardians wishing to appeal the decision of revoking credit must contact the Counselor for an appeal form. All appeals must be handled no later than the following grading period. Students with excessive truancies will be processed using the guidelines described under the Truancy Policy.

Education Code 48260 states:  Any student who is absent from school without valid excuse for more than three days or is tardy to school in excess of 30 minutes on each of more than three days in one school year is a truant and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor. 

Remember being truant from school is against state law.  The following procedure will be followed for students who are truant.  

1. School absence policy will apply, and students may lose credit in their respective classes.

Students who are declared to be habitually truant from classes are in violation of Education Code 48260 and are subject to the following:  

1. Referral to the justice court system.  
2. Punishment may include:
   1. Fine 
   2. Order student/parent/guardian to be placed in a parent education or counseling program. 

The court will suspend, restrict, delay, or revoke the student’s driving privilege for one year if the student is convicted of being a habitual truant. 
 

Teachers will document each tardy a student accumulates.  The Office will track tardies and assign appropriate discipline.

A tardy is defined as not being in the classroom when the tardy bell stops ringing.  Any student missing 30 minutes of class or more will be considered absent from class.  A tardy can only be excused due to illness, doctor's appointment, family funeral, or school activity. Any other reason is considered an unexcused tardy.  If a student is reporting to school late, he/she will report to the Office with a parent/guardian call to the attendance secretary or a note from the parent/guardian.  The student must sign in, and the attendance secretary will issue a time stamped tardy pass to the student.  An excused tardy can only be issued by attendance personnel.  The teacher will remove absence mark or tardy mark from attendance report.  Habitual tardies may result in the student being referred to alternative education placement.

1. Orange Cove High School students will be subject to random Tardy Sweeps.  Any student caught in a Tardy Sweep will be assigned 1 hour after school detention. 
2. A student is not exempt due to athletic or extracurricular practices.  Further, missing or being late to these practices could severely affect their status or participation time with these programs.
3. Consequences for missing detention

• First Offense:  2 days after school detention beginning the next school day.  Call home to parents by campus/detention monitor.
• Second Offense: One Saturday School assigned. Call home to parents by campus/detention monitor.

OCHS hopes that all students and parents realize the importance of an education and make a commitment to being on time and ready to learn for all classes.