Attendance

All students are required by Arizona State Law to attend school. Regular and on-time attendance is essential to success in school. Most subjects are taught in sequence, requiring the understanding of each concept in the order of its presentation. Attending school each day is very important for learning. Students are expected to attend 90% of the instructional days. The Alhambra School District defines excess absences as absences more than 10% of the days in membership for the school year (eighteen 18 days), not to include excused absences.

Absence Procedures

Absences shall be excused only for necessary and important reasons that include illness, bereavement, other family emergencies and observance of major religious holidays of the family’s 8 faith. State law mandates that the school record the reason for all student absences. Therefore, when a student is absent, it will be necessary for the parent to call the 24-hour attendance line on or before the day of the absence to advise the school as to the reason for the absence. The school may require documentation from a doctor to verify a medical condition when absences total more than 10 percent of the number of required attendance days. Parents are expected to call the attendance line no later than one (1) hour after the start of the school day on the day of absence. Failure to report an absence will result in a phone call from the automated attendance line system. If phone contact has not been made with the school, a note from the parent must be presented to the homeroom teacher or the attendance office on the morning that the student returns to school. The note must contain the student’s name, date of absence, specific reason for absence, and be signed by the parent or guardian. All absences must be excused within forty-eight (48) hours of the date of absence, or they will remain unexcused. If your child is to leave early during school hours, the person picking up the student must be listed on their student information card and show a valid picture I.D. Students may not participate in after-school extracurricular activities if they were not in attendance at school on the day of the activity.

Custody

In cases where custody or visitation affects the school, the site shall follow the most recent court order on file with the school. It is the responsibility of the custodial parent or parents having joint custody to provide the school with the most recent court order. Restraining orders, court orders and injunctions can only be modified or rescinded by a court.

Open Enrollment

The District has an open enrollment program as set forth in Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S. 15- 816) that allows students the ability to attend a school outside their attendance boundaries without paying tuition. The Governing Board Policy JFB provides the guidelines for the Open Enrollment process within the Alhambra School District. These guidelines are posted on our district website. Students attending schools on open enrollment may have their transfer revoked for violating district policies on rules of conduct and/or attendance. Revocation of open enrollment is at the discretion of the site principal.

Reporting Child Abuse

By state law (A.R.S. 13-3620) school employees must report suspected cases of child abuse to the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS). Individuals required to report suspected abuse are protected by state law from civil or criminal liability. Each school site has a school coordinator for processing suspected cases of child abuse.

Tardies

If a student is late for arrival to school, the parent should call or send a note and the student must report to the attendance office before going to the classroom. The student will be given a pass to take to the classroom teacher. If the student has continuous tardiness, parents will be notified to determine a course of action as excessive tardiness can lead to academic difficulties for the student.

Truancy and the Law - C.U.T.S. Program

Your child’s future is important to us and the Alhambra School District is very proud of our educational programs and of the achievement of our students. One of the most important habits a student can develop is that of good attendance. School attendance is not only a good habit; it is 9 Safety - Student/School also required by state law. In order to encourage school attendance, the Alhambra School District partners with the Maricopa County Juvenile Court and participates in the Court Unified Truancy Suppression Program (C.U.T.S.). The principals and school staff will work closely with Maricopa County Juvenile Court to refer, cite and prosecute students who have excessive truant absences. A truant absence is any absence for which the school has not received a phone call or note from a parent or guardian to excuse the absence. This program is designed to assist the District in enforcing the mandatory school attendance laws. Our goal is for every student to be in school, ready and willing to learn. If there is a problem that is interfering with your child’s attendance, please contact your child’s school principal so that the problem can be addressed in a timely manner and increase your child’s chance for success.

Make-Up Work

Student attendance is important to ensure high levels of student learning and should occur only when necessary. A student who is absent will be permitted the same amount of time of the absence to complete make-up work.