Unexcused Absences (Truancy)
A student is considered truant when he or she is absent from school without a valid excuse for three full days in one school year or is tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during the school day on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof. The school shall report the student to the local public school district's attendance office or the public school district's superintendent.
Truancy is a serious matter for a number of reasons. Truancy encourages dishonesty and can lead to unsafe even dangerous activities. Truancy is wasteful because it causes loss of instruction time and parent’s tuition money. Parents should realize that a student’s grade may suffer because of unexcused absences. Students determined to have been truant from school may not request make up work or take missed exams. The school will comply with the California Department of Education in reporting truancy cases.
California law defines a truant as a child who, without a valid excuse, is:
- absent for 3 full days in a single school year,
- tardy 3 times in a year,
- absent 3 times for more than 30 minutes, or
- any combination of the above.
Students can also be chronically truant. California Education Code 48263.6 defines chronic truants as children who have missed 10 percent of the school year.
