Dunbar Elementary School

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Attendance Policy

The Importance of Attendance
In order to foster a sense of responsibility, it is the goal of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District to encourage students to come to school each day on time, and to take full advantage of all educational opportunities. The District believes that regular, on time, school attendance is crucial to a child's success in school, both educationally and socially.

The law states that unless a student attends school the school cannot receive ADA (Average Daily Attendance). ADA is $40.00 per day per student. This means that if a student is ill, or has a Doctor appointment, money is not received for the student. We certainly do not encourage you to send your child to school when they are ill, but we do ask that you try to schedule Doctor appointments so that your child will attend at least part of the school day. The school does receive funds for partial day attendance.

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES: Your child's attendance patterns often have a direct link with achievement. Frequent absences hurt academic performance. California State Law mandates that unless children are ill, they must be in school on time every day. Absences are considered excused for the following reasons:

1. Student illness
2. Student medical appointment
3. Bereavement (some restrictions apply ... please contact the school office).
4. Some religious observances

For any of the above reasons, California State Law further stipulates that parents must notify their child's school office within 24 hours. This can be done by phone (707-935-6070) if you feel there's a possibility that your child might miss more than one day. When your child returns to school, you should send an absence note with an explanation for the child's absence from school. ALL other absences are considered unexcused. Three unexcused absences can result in referral to SARB (School Attendance Review Board). Excessive excused absences and excessive tardies may be cause for referral to SARB. If your child has excessive excused absences (more than 14 in a school year), the school can require that a doctor's verification of illness be provided for each absence or there may be cause for referral to SARB. If you would like more specific information regarding school attendance laws, please ask in the office for the School Attendance Review Manual.

TARDINESS is a serious detriment to each child's and each classroom's success. When a child is tardy, it prevents him/her from benefit of the most important part of a school day when the day's work is outlined. Tardiness is a serious distraction for the teacher and students who are punctual, because it detracts from the progress of the class. Although excessive tardiness is when a child is late in excess of 30 minutes, the habitual tardiness of 5 to 10 minutes is equally detrimental. This is typically the parents' responsibility. Please assist your child to learn the valuable lesson of personal responsibility by setting the example for punctuality. It is a most valuable life skill.

Kindergarten through fifth grade students are considered tardy if they arrive after 8:15 a.m. If a student arrives to school before 8:45 am, please report directly to class and the teacher will mark you tardy. If a student arrives after 8:45 am, you must come to the office with a note signed by a parent/guardian, explaining the reason for late arrival. If you do not have a note, a parent or guardian must come in to the office and sign you in. You will receive an Admit Slip to give to your teacher. Please make every attempt to be at school on time!

Truancy
A child is considered truant if s/he is: absent from school without a valid excuse three full days in one school year, tardy three times for more than 30 minutes without a valid excuse in one school year, or any combination thereof
(Ed. Code Section 48260).

INDEPENDENT STUDY: If your child must be absent from school for more than five or more days, an Independent Study Contract will keep absences from being unexcused. An Independent Study Contract is simply a way for your child to have appropriate academic activities during a school absence, but it is in no way a substitute for school attendance. Please contact you child's teacher a week before the planned absence to have work prepared. You and your child will sign a "contract" guaranteeing the work will be done.

Students may not leave the school grounds before dismissal unless signed out by a parent/guardian. Students who return to school during the day must sign in. Students must be signed in and out in the school off ice by a parent. Your child can be released only to those adults who you have authorized on the Emergency card.

EARLY DISMISSAL: If a child needs to be taken out of school before the regular dismissal:

1. Come to the office to sign the student out.
2. Please do not go to the classroom to get your child.
3. The office will send for your child.

Family Vacations
We do understand that family time is important, but if vacations can be arranged during school holidays, both your child and the school will benefit. You do have the option of requesting an Independent Study Contract if you plan on keeping your child out of school for 5 or more consecutive days. Requests for these contracts can be made through the school off ice or your classroom teacher at least seven days before the planned absence.

Children in SVUSD attend school 180 days per year. That is only 69% of the typical 260-day adult work year. While the District supports quality family time, it also discourages family vacations taken during the 180 -days of school.

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