IMPORTANT INFO:
IMPORTANT INFO:![]()
IMPORTANT INFO:
As a district post COVID, schools within CUSD have been experiencing declining daily attendance with a loss of 17 million dollars to the district. To combat this issue, the district has put together an attendance campaign where this year schools can earn additional funding up to $25,000.00 to be spent in any way needed if we meet our attendance goal that was established by the district. The District has divided our TK-8 School into two goals. Our TK - 5 attendance goal is 95.92% by the end of the school year. We are currently at 95.23%. Our 6-8 attendance goal is 96.54% for the 23-24 school year. We are currently at 96.50%. We are currently falling short in both areas.
Please note our school’s primary funding source (other than donations) is our average daily attendance. Therefore, if students are absent, even if it is excused, VdM does not receive the funding for each absent student. Students being absent or excessively tardy are not only hurting themselves academically and socially, but they may be keeping our school (approximately 1300 other students) from receiving additional programs and supplies.
Attendance
ATTENDANCE
As parents, you have the responsibility to make school a #1 priority for your child. An average absence rate of more than one day per month is considered excessive. By making sure your child is in school every day, you ensure his or her opportunity to learn. Research indicates that when parents actively participate in their child's education, the quality of learning improves. Such participation also improves student test scores and creates an atmosphere that enhances student success.
Regular attendance at school is critical to the success of all students. Please call (949) 234-5950 for TK-5 and (949) 234-5969 for 6-8 to report your child’s absence and provide the following information:
- The date(s) of the absence
- The person calling
- Your child’s full name
- The reason for the absence
If you do not call in or email regarding your child’s absence, your child must have a note with your signature indicating the above information for the day(s) he/she was absent from school. If you do not contact the office by 11:00 a.m. on the day of the absence, an automated calling and/or e-mail system will contact you regarding your child’s absence.
TYPES OF ABSENCES
Excused Absences may include: illness, medical or dental appointments, death or serious illness in immediate family, religious holidays, quarantine, or immunization exclusion. If your child will be out of school for five school days or more, you can request an Independent Study Contract.
Truants/Unexcused Absences: Students who are on campus but miss their assigned class without permission from school staff are considered truant. If a student is more than 30 minutes late, the student is truant. Also, those students who leave campus, stay home without permission from a parent/guardian, or have an absence that remains unexcused after 72 hours, will be recorded as truant. Discipline may be administered in each of these cases.
Unexcused absences include all absences or truancies which may include but are not limited to: traffic, vacations, shopping, staying home to visit with friends or family, transportation breakdown, working, missing the bus, negligence, truancy, too tired, etc.
A total of three days of unexcused absences or truancies can trigger the School Attendance Review Board (SARB) process and may receive disciplinary actions at school for truancy. Parents will be sent a letter notifying them that their child is habitually absent/ truant. Additional unexcused absences/truancies will prompt a mandatory meeting with the District Attorney’s office and potential prosecution.
TARDIES
Tardy-Late to School: Any student who arrives late to school must check in to the attendance office to get a pass to enter class. Students who arrive to class late create a disruption, regardless of the reason, and will be marked tardy. California State law excuses tardies for illness and medical appointments; unfortunately, we are unable to excuse tardies for traffic, rain, car difficulties, or any other circumstance not listed under “Excused.”
Tardy-Late to Class: A student is tardy when he/she is not in a seat in class when the first bell rings to begin class. The only way to excuse a tardy is for a student to have a note (with the student’s name, date, and time) signed by a staff member. Since classroom tardies disrupt the educational environment and affect the classroom teacher directly, parents cannot excuse classroom tardies. *An absence is recorded if a student is more than 30 minutes late to class.
DISMISSAL FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR PERSONAL APPOINTMENTS
If your child must leave during the school day, you may send a note with him/her indicating the time and nature of the early dismissal. Your child will bring the note to the office before school and receive a “Special Excuse” slip. He/she will show this slip to the classroom teacher at the beginning of the appropriate class period. The teacher will send him/her to the attendance office at the designated time. A parent or guardian must come in to the office to sign the student out before he/she may leave campus and may be asked for photo ID. Your child may not leave campus in the custody of anyone other than a parent or guardian or person authorized on the emergency card. This is for your child’s protection.
ILLNESS AT SCHOOL
If your child becomes ill at school, he/she is to request permission from his or her teacher to report to the office. If the child is too ill to continue his/her day at school, the health office will call the parent or guardian to pick up the child. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES is a child to call his/her parents/guardians to pick him/her up and leave the premises without the school personnel being notified.
INDEPENDENT STUDY CONTRACT (ISC)
Students who will be away from school for three or more days and up to fourteen, other than illness, may be able to receive class work and remain up-to-date. To request an ISC, please notify the office AT LEAST TEN SCHOOL DAYS PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF ABSENCE so that the request can be reviewed, and if approved, class assignments may be organized. This process helps students to keep up with school work, but there is no substitute for teacher instruction and class interaction. Please schedule vacations appropriately.
INDEPENDENT PHYSICAL EDUCATION (IPE)
Students who compete in an individual sport to an exceptional degree of competition, may request District approval for IPE.
- The student must be a nationally ranked athlete, or equivalent, performing or competing at a nationally recognized level (see Sports Qualifications).
- Team sport participation does not qualify for IPE.
- Students who meet the criteria for IPE will be scheduled into Online Independent Physical Education; IPE applications must be submitted at least three weeks prior to each semester.
For additional information and to apply for IPE, review the IPE Link located on the CUSD website under the Parents Link.
