Gerald F. Litel Elementary

The California State Education Code requires school attendance for minors. Students should regularly attend all classes on time. If a student is absent, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SCHOOL on the first day of absence, during the regular school day from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If parents are unable to call on each day of an absence, the student, upon the first day of his/her return, MUST bring a written note from a parent or guardian. You have three days to clear your child’s absence. Please contact the school office in advance of any long-term (5 or more days) unavoidable absence to arrange a schedule of the work to be completed by the student. This must be done at least one week in advance.

The following information is your right to know and required by law. This law directly relates to the amount of state appropriated funding our school receives each day for average daily attendance (ADA). We appreciate you reading this Education Code 48205 and your cooperation in planning vacations or routine medical exams during our regularly scheduled breaks to avoid unexcused absences.

1. Notwithstanding Section 48200, a pupil shall be excused from school when the absence is:
   1. Due to his or her illness
   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
   4. For the purpose of attending 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 of California
   5. For the purpose of jury duty in the manner provided for by the law
   6. Due to the illness or medical appointment during school hours of a child whom the pupil is the custodial parent
   7. For justifiable personal reasons, including appearance in court, attendance at a funeral service, observance of a holiday or ceremony of his or her religion, attendance at religious retreats, or attendance at an employment conference, when the pupil's absence has been required in writing by the parent or guardian and approved by the principal or a designated representative pursuant to uniform standards established by the governing board
       
2. (b) A pupil absent from school under this section shall be allowed to:
   1. 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.
   2. The teacher of any class from which a pupil is absent shall determine the tests and assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the pupil missed during the absence.
       

Per California Education Code, any student who has three or more unexcused absences (as defined above) or has been tardy for over 30 minutes on three or more days, is truant and shall be reported to the district attendance supervisor.

All students must be in line with all necessary materials for the day when the tardy bell rings (7:50 A.M.) or they will be considered tardy. A student will be marked “tardy” if they are walking through the Lion Sanctuary Gate when the ‘tardy bell’ sounds. Otherwise, consequences of “tardies” will be as follows:

The first tardy will result in a warning. A student that is tardy again with a medical excuse will be given the opportunity to make-up the instructional time which was lost. Subsequent “tardies” will result in further disciplinary action left up to administrative discretion which may include a referral to the School Attendance Review Team (SART) if the number of “tardies” is deemed excessive.