Attendance Procedures and Truancy Steps
Lucia Mar is committed to providing a rigorous education program to all of our students. In order for students to access their education
they must maintain regular attendance. Students who miss more than 10% of any school year can miss out on the many benefits of
education. In order to understand the legal obligations, we have created this document to support families in understanding how absences
are handled district wide.
There are a variety of ways to notify your child’s school of the reason for their absence.
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Phone call - You can leave messages at any time of day or night. Please leave a clear and detailed message.
805-474-3350
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Email to the school office attendance secretary.
[email protected]
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Email to your child’s teacher.
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Send a note to school with your child.
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Digital Absence Form available on the school websites.
Click HERE to use this form.
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Parent square message sent to the school.
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*All notes must be received within 1 month of the child’s absence, as our records cannot be updated after a
certain amount of time.
Although we want a call for every absence there are only a limited number of reasons we are legally able to excuse
your student. You can find the reasons and corresponding attendance code below:
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Excused Absence reasons
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Attendance Verification Code
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Attendance at a Funeral service for student’s immediate family - 1 day for in state - 3 days for out of state
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4
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Court Appearance/Jury Duty/Naturalization ceremony for student
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J
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Illness/ Dr. Visit/ Mental Health day
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I or D or W
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Quarantine
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Q
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Religious Holiday/Ceremony or Retreat (4 hours per semester)
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4
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Spending time with immediate family member who is deployed or on leave from active duty
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4
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Engaging in a civic or political event (Middle/High school only) must give prior notice to administration.
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4
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Short Term Independent Study
If your family is going to be gone for 3-14 days you may also choose to apply for a short term independent
study contract. This will allow your student to receive attendance credit, once they return to school with the
completed work.
Attendance Letters you may receive:
Chronic Absent Letter (10% Letter): If your student misses 10% of the school year for any reason you will receive a
letter notification. This is an opportunity to ensure you are aware of the times your student has missed and the adverse
effects missing school can have on your student.
Excessive Illness Letter: All students have 10 school days for illness (attendance code I) or mental health days
(attendance code W). Once your student reaches the 11th day you will receive the chronic illness letter, and you will be
required to bring a doctor note for every illness. You may also work with your school nurse if your child has a chronic illness
to have a doctor excuse note on file.
Truancy Letters:
Whenever your student is not at school we ask that you notify your school of the reason for the absences. If we do not
hear from you the absence is unexcused, and your student is marked as truant. Please see the truancy steps below:
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Truancy Letter Steps
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Step 1
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Truancy Letter #1
A letter informing parents of their child’s unexcused absences and the relevant laws regarding school attendance.
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After 3 unexcused absences OR three 30 plus minutes (30+) unexcused tardies or leaving early OR a combination of both
OR equivalent period absences (secondary schools)
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Step 2
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Truancy Letter #2
A second letter is sent to the parent informing parents of their child’s unexcused absences and the relevant laws regarding school attendance. A Pre-SARB (School Attendance Review Board) meeting is scheduled with the site administrator.
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After 5 unexcused absences OR five 30 plus minutes (30+) unexcused tardies/leaving early OR a combination of both OR equivalent period absences (secondary schools)
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Step 3
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Pre-SARB meeting
This is a formal meeting that will include the site administrator, and may include the Coordinator of Student Safety and Support and appropriate services providers. The intent of this meeting is to ensure all necessary support is in place for the student to attend school on a regular basis.
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Between Truancy Steps 2 & 4
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Step 4
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Truancy Letter #3
This Habitual Truant Letter informs parents of their child’s unexcused absences and the relevant laws regarding school attendance.
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After 7 unexcused absences
OR 7 30 plus minutes (30+) unexcused tardies/leaving early OR a combination of both OR equivalent period absences (secondary schools)
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Step 5
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Student Attendance Review Board (SARB)
This is a formal meeting in front of a panel of 15-20 district and community support members. The goal is to improve student attendance and get your student back to school on a regular basis. Members of the panel include site representation, LMUSD Coordinator of Student Safety and Support, County Alternative Education representative, SAFE, CWS, Juvenile Probation, TEMH, FIT and many others.
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SARB may occur if attendance continues to be a concern after 7 unexcused absences
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You can access all the relevant education codes on our website LMUSD.ORG. Education codes referenced in this document are as follows: Education Code 48250, 46104, 48225.5, 48260, 46012
Tardiness
Tardiness interferes with the instruction of all students. It is expected that all students respectfully arrive on time for all classes. Excused tardies are issued of a student returns from a medical or dental appointment during a period or if the student is on a valid errand outside of the classroom with permission and a written pass. Students are responsible to make up all missed work that period. If an assignment was due, students must turn it in to the teacher that day, or it will be considered late. Students who are continually tardy will be referred to their administrator. Students may be assigned detention at lunch and/or break for tardiness. Ultimately, excessive tardies may result in detention, in-house suspension, and/or Saturday School . A tardy becomes and absence 30 minutes after the class is scheduled to start.
Students tardy for their arrival period may receive an excused tardy and entry to class if they present a note from their parent or guardian to the attendance office. Students are permitted 2 such notes each semester.
Parent Responsibilities
Pursuant to California Education Code, it is the duty of each parent, guardian or person having control or custody of a minor, to compel and guarantee regular and prompt attendance to class. When a student is absent, the PARENT or GUARDIAN must contact the school and verify the reason for and the dates of the absence within 3 days.
Leaving School Early
In order to leave school early, a student must obtain a Permit to Leave Campus from the Attendance Office. Permits will be issued during office hours only if the parent/guardian has given verbal or written permission to the school. Students who leave early without first obtaining permission from the office will be assigned a "CUT" which may result in disciplinary action and/or assignment failure.
Closed Campus
Our campus is a CLOSED campus by action of the Board of Education. No student may leave during the school day without first obtaining a Permit to Leave Campus in the Attendance Office.
Emergency Messages
Only emergency messages FROM PARENTS will be sent to student through the Attendance Office. NOTE: This is NOT to be used as a reminder service.
