BOARD POLICY - 5113.1

The Board of Education believes that absenteeism, whatever the cause, may be an early warning sign of poor academic achievement and may put students at risk of dropping out of school. The Board desires to ensure that all students attend school in accordance with the state's compulsory education laws and take full advantage of educational opportunities provided by the District, and that students who are identified as chronically absent or truant receive appropriate support services and interventions as early as possible.

Because supervision of attendance is an essential component of an effective school attendance program, the Superintendent will designate a District employee to supervise attendance. The designee will be responsible for managing an attendance program that reaches every student, is conducted in collaboration with local resources, uses truancy and dropout data to modify interventions, and shares outcomes with all School Attendance Review Board (SARB) representatives, and the Board of Education. The designee shall establish a system to accurately track student attendance in order to identify students who are chronic absentees and truants, as defined in law and administrative regulation, and to identify patterns of absence throughout the District. 

Among other duties that may be required by the Board shall be those specific duties related to compulsory full-time education, truancy, work permits, compulsory continuing education, and opportunity schools, classes, and programs. (EC 48240).

The designee shall consult with students, parents/guardians, school staff, and community agencies, as appropriate, to identify factors contributing to chronic absence and truancy, including in relation to grade level and student subgroup patterns of chronic absence and truancy. 

The designee shall develop a tiered approach to reducing chronic absence. Such an approach shall include strategies for preventing attendance problems, which may include, but are not limited to, efforts to provide a safe and positive school environment; relevant and engaging learning experiences; school activities that help develop students' feelings of connectedness with the school, including personalized relationships between students and teachers and/or support staff; school-based health services; letters alerting parents/guardians to the value of regular school attendance, including the use of bilingual aides and communication in the primary language used by parents/guardians; and incentives and rewards to recognize students who achieve excellent attendance or demonstrate significant improvement in attendance.

The tiered approach shall also provide for early outreach to students as soon as they show signs of poor attendance or if they were chronically absent in the prior school year. Early intervention may include personalized outreach, individual attendance plans, and/or mentoring to students with moderate levels of chronic absence, with additional intensive, interagency wrap-around services for students with the highest level of absence.

Students with serious attendance problems shall be provided with interventions specific to their needs, which may include, but are not limited to, health care referrals; transportation assistance (if applicable); counseling, including trauma-informed practices, for mental or emotional difficulties; academic supports; efforts to address school or community safety concerns; discussions with the student and parent/guardian about their attitudes regarding schooling; or other strategies to remove identified barriers to school attendance. The  designee may collaborate with child welfare services, law enforcement, courts, public health care agencies, other government agencies, and/or medical, mental health, and oral health care providers to make alternative educational programs and support services available for students and families.

The designee shall ensure that staff assigned to fulfill attendance-related duties are trained in implementing a trauma-informed approach to chronic absence and receive information about the high correlation between chronic absence and exposure to adverse childhood experiences.

To provide students with an opportunity to make up lost instructional time and offset absences, the designee may implement an attendance recovery program for students in grades transitional kindergarten-12. Any such attendance recovery program shall be operated in accordance with Education Code 46211 and as specified in the accompanying administrative regulation.

A student's truancy, tardiness, or other absence from school shall not be the basis for suspension or expulsion. Alternative strategies and positive reinforcement for attendance shall be used whenever possible.

Limiting Excused Absences and Eliminating Unexcused Absences

The designee must ensure that the attendance program limits excused absences and decreases unexcused absences.  Education Code 48205 enumerates the reasons for excused absences, and the designee, the Principal, or the Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) may require verification by a school official or physician if absences for health reasons appear excessive and may require prior notice from parents for absences excused for justifiable personal reasons, such as non-emergency appointments or permitted religious instruction or retreats. (EC 46014, 48205)

Students who are 18 years of age or older or who are emancipated may excuse their own absences, and the Principal, Assistant Principal, or Site Office Assistant may require verification from a physician or designated school official when necessary. (EC 46012)

The designee shall periodically report to the Board regarding student attendance patterns in the District, including rates of chronic absence and truancy districtwide and for each school, grade level, and numerically significant student subgroup as defined in Education Code 52052. Such information shall be used to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies implemented to reduce chronic absence and truancy and to develop annual goals and specific actions for student attendance and engagement to be included in the District's Local Control and Accountability Plan and other applicable school and District plans. As appropriate, the Superintendent or designee shall engage school staff in program evaluation and improvement and in the determination of how to best allocate available community resources.

The designee shall ensure that the District Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) convenes regularly and follows all state, county, and District policies and laws to successfully conduct panel hearings and make recommendations for interventions, placements, and other actions as proscribed by California Education Code. The designee will submit annual reports of the SARB to the Orange County Department of Education at the end of each school year.

Legal References:

EDUCATION CODES
1740 Employment of personnel to supervise attendance (county superintendent)
2550-2558.6 Computation of revenue limits
37201 School month
37223 Weekend classes
41601 Reports of average daily attendance
42238-42250.1 Apportionments
46000 Records (attendance)
46010-46014 Absences
46100-46119 Attendance in kindergarten and elementary schools
46140-46147 Attendance in junior high and high schools
46211 Attendance Recovery Programs
48200-48208 Children ages 6-18 (compulsory full-time attendance)
48210-48216 Exclusions from attendance
48240-48246 Supervisors of attendance
48260-48273 Truants
48291 Criminal complaint against parent
48292 Filing complaint against parent
48293 Relating to truants, fine for non-attendance
48320-48325 School attendance review boards
48340-48341 Improvement of student attendance
49067 Unexcused absences as cause of failing grade
52052 Public School Performance Accountability Program 

Elections Code 12302 Student participation on precinct boards
Family Code 6920-6929 Consent by minor
Vehicle Code 13202.7 Driving privileges; minors; suspension or delay for habitual truancy
Welfare and Institutions Code
601-601.4 Habitually truant minors
11253.5 Compulsory school attendance
Code of Regulations, Title 5
306 Explanation of absence
420-421 Record of verification of absence due to illness and other causes

ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS
66 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen 245, 249 (1983)
Court Decisions American Academy of Pediatrics et al v. Lungren et al (1997) 16 Cal.4th 307

Policy Adopted: January 12, 2010
Policy Revised: January 27, 2026

Administrative Regulation 5113.1 Chronic Absence and Truancy