CWCS Truancy Practices and Procedures

Truant Practices

  • Some ESes will work with students who are consistently late, or give last minute notice of the need to reschedule, and/or they reschedule several times in one month.  They might also have students who demonstrate sufficient work in order to give slightly more than 50% attendance for that attendance period.  At the first occurrence of one of the above or similar situations, the ES should do everything possible to emphasize the importance of the appointment or Learning Record meetings and what constitutes sufficient work to avoid such a situation in the future.  If this situation occurs, the ES should consult their ES Advisor immediately for information and for their assistance. Please do not work with a potentially truant student without your ES Advisor being fully informed of the details of the situation!
  • If you are unable to reach the student or parent, then send a letter to them (see sample letter in the ES Manual), or leave the letter at their door.  If they contact you and you are able to meet with them without a truancy, then all is well.  (Call your ES Advisor for assistance to determine what would or wouldn't constitute a truancy based on the date that they meet with you).  But if they don't meet with you, proceed to do a “first truancy” (see below)—do not delay!
  • If a student missed an appointment or did not make enough progress in an attendance period (length of time between meetings with an ES, but no more than 20 days maximum), the ES needs to follow the below procedure.
  • The truancy policy applies to CAHSEE Intensive and Contract Programs courses (including HQT department courses).  An unexcused absence will be counted as a truancy.
    -Excused Absence is defined as:  The student or parent shall notify the teacher of the absence at least 24 hours prior to the time the class meets.  Students who have notified their teacher that they will be absent due to illness, doctor's appointment, or another reason, MUST complete their assigned make-up work within 48 hours of the regularly scheduled class meeting.  If make-up work is not turned in to the teacher within 48 hours, the missing make-up work will affect their grade.
    -Unexcused Absence is defined as: The student or parent shall notify the teacher of the absence at least 24 hours prior to the time the class meets. If the teacher has not been notified by the student or parent of an absence at least 24 hours prior to the time the class meets, the student absence will be "unexcused".  The student MUST complete their assigned make-up work within 48 hours of the regularly scheduled class meeting.  If make-up work is not turned in to the teacher within 48 hours, the missing make-up work will affect their grade.
    Truancy notification: The CP instructor will email the ES and cc the student on the same day that the unexcused absence occurred to notify them that the student was unexcused and therefore truant, and that they must turn in their make up work within 48 hours or it will affect their grade.  After consulting with their ES Advisor, if the unexcused absence constitutes a truancy, the ES must follow the truancy policy and mail the truancy letter within 24 hours of the date that the email was sent.
    *If there are extenuating circumstances that do not allow for at least 24 hours, then the teacher must still be notified prior to the start of class; allowances may be made depending on the circumstances.  Examples of extenuating circumstances: car accident, sudden illness, etc.
    (For Moodle/Elluminate and CAHSEE Intensive courses:  To earn attendance credit, a student who is absent-- excused or unexcused-- MUST complete their assigned make-up work within 48 hours of the regularly scheduled class meeting for site based class.  For online classes, the student will view recording of class session missed and complete summary, take a quiz, or whatever the HQT assigns.  Attendance Credit will be granted by the instructor based on the quality of the make-up work. (For CAHSEE Intensive- no attendance is given for students who miss a session but credit can be given for made up work).

Truancy Procedure

 

First Truancy:

If the student misses an appointment or earns only 50% attendance or less, then the ES will:

 

1) Truancy Notification:

  • Contact parent to confirm and explain the reason for the truancy
  • Contact your ES advisor
  • Truancy Letter:  With the direction of your ES Advisor generate and print a 1st truancy letter directly from F.R.E.D (Go to View/Active Student, click on the student number and select the 1st truancy letter, enter the date for the truancy letter, enter the number of absences for this truant attendance period.)
  • Email studentrecords@ieminc.org, your ES Advisor, Executive Director, and Special Education (only include Special Education if the student is receiving special education services) indicating that you mailed a truant letter to (student) on (date).  Print and mail immediately to the family (put the IEM Placerville address as the return address).
  • The ES Advisor will determine if an Evaluation Hearing is needed and will meet with the parent if necessary.

 

2) Attendance Roll sheet:

  • Print a truant roll sheet, marking all 0’s and signing and dating the bottom.  This roll sheet can be mailed without a parent’s signature.  If the student did some work but not enough to claim more than 50% attendance, then both the parent and ES sign on the roll sheet.  If the parent and ES disagree on the attendance, then the ES does not sign the parent’s roll sheet but creates his/her own roll sheet.  The ES’s roll sheet will only have the ES signature.  Both roll sheets are sent in together.  
  • Send the truant attendance roll sheet to the office ASAP

 

3) Learning Record:

  • Document on the LR that this is the first truancy with the dates and times you tried to contact the student/parent (i.e. phone calls, missed appointments, etc.) or with the insufficient learning documented, noting that learning was deficient.

4) Follow-up

  • If your student has had a first truancy, be sure to set the following meeting date for no more than 5 school days later so that you can be sure the student is getting on track.

 

Truancy Procedure

 

Second Truancy:

If the student misses the next appointment or earns only 50% attendance or less, then the ES will:

 

1) Truancy Notification:

 

  • Contact your ES Advisor to ensure that proper procedures are being followed
  • Truancy Letter:  With the direction of your ES Advisor generate and print a 2nd truancy letter directly from F.R.E.D. (Go to View/Active Student, click on the student number and select the 2nd truancy letter, enter the date for the truancy letter, enter the number of absences for this truant attendance period.)
  • E-mail studentrecords@ieminc.org , your ES Advisor, Executive Director, and Special Education (only include Special Education if the student is receiving special education services) indicating that you mailed a 2nd truant letter to (student) on (date).
  • The Executive Director will send a letter notifying the parent and the student or the adult student of the date and time of the Evaluation Hearing
  • If the family chooses to attend an Evaluation Hearing, the student must continue doing work and remain enrolled in the school.

 

Special Education Students Truancy Procedure

If the truant student is an identified Special Education student, please inform both the Executive Director and the Special Education office (mcarr@ieminc.org with a cc to Michonne Taylor mtaylor@ieminc.org)  Special Ed asks that you carefully document every attempt to contact and work with the family.

 

 

 

2) Attendance Roll sheet:

  • Print a truant roll sheet, marking all 0’s and signing and dating the bottom. This roll sheet can be mailed without a parent’s signature.  If the student did some work but not enough to claim more than 50% attendance, then both the parent and ES sign on the roll sheet.  If the parent and ES disagree on the attendance, then the ES does not sign the parent’s roll sheet but creates his/her own rollsheet.  The ES’s roll sheet will only have the ES signature.  Both roll sheets are sent in together.  
  • Send the truant attendance roll sheet to the IEM Placerville office immediately.

3) Learning Record:

  • Document on the LR that this is the second truancy with the dates and times you tried to contact the student/parent (i.e. phone calls, missed appts., etc.) or with the insufficient learning documented and noted as deficient.
  • Document the date and time of the Evaluation Hearing or whether student/parent chose to withdraw from Independent Study.

4) Evaluation Hearing

  • The Evaluation Hearing will be held at the School Office in Waterford. The student/parent will be notified of the date and time of the hearing.
  • At the hearing, it will be determined if an independent study program is in the best interest of the student.

5) Dismissal

  • Administration will notify the ES of the outcome of the Evaluation hearing and the drop date
  • Submit a drop form
  • Meet with parent to collect all missing materials and attendance roll sheet if necessary

 

 

Once the Administration or Parent Council Committee determines the student’s final enrollment status either:

  • Continue service with the student or
  • Submit a drop form in FRED and “select” the reason for the truancy from the drop down list.  The student must be dropped immediately from the Charter School. Select a drop code from the Drop Status Selection Guidelines: http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/transferdrops/dropstatusiem.htm
  • The Special Education office will automatically be cc'd on an email when the drop is processed in FRED.

 

 

High School Students Truancy Procedure

Truancy guidelines are outlined in the CW Student Enrollment Contract regarding students in high school.  Please note that before students are dismissed, they must be invited to an Evaluation Hearing.

If you work with a High School student (AESS or not) who has not completed any or at least half of their required work after 2 weekly or bi-weekly meetings in a row, consult with your ES Advisor immediately for further direction. Note that this is a REQUIRED consultation with your ES Advisor!

 

 

First Truancy Notice Letter

WARNING!

This letter is to notify you that your student is truant.  Connecting Waters Charter School (CWCS) records show that your student has

 

 [_] missed an appointment

 [_] has an attendance period in which the student has had 50% or less attendance.

As stated in the CWCS Truancy Policy, an Evaluation Hearing may be called by the Administration after one missed assignment/appointment. During the Hearing the Administration will determine whether it is in your student’s best interest to be enrolled in an independent study program. If the Administration finds that it is not in your student’s best interest to remain in independent study, your student will be dismissed from the Charter School.  You will then be required to immediately enroll your student in a site based educational program through the local school district or other appropriate educational program.

Further, please remember that it is the policy of CWCS to dismiss any student with two truancies in a school year.  A student is truant when he or she has either missed an appointment with the student’s Education Specialist or has an attendance period in which the student has had 50% or less attendance.

 

In the best interest of your student’s education, and to avoid a second truancy, please immediately contact and work closely with your Education Specialist to ensure that your student misses no more appointments with your student’s Education Specialist, and that your student achieves full attendance for the next learning period.  If you have any questions that your Education Specialist cannot answer about why the school records show that your student is truant, or if you wish to obtain further information about the school’s requirement that your student keep his or her appointments and achieves full attendance, you may contact your student’s Education Specialist Advisor at the telephone number listed below.

Your Education Specialist,

(sign and leave your telephone #)

 

 

Second Truancy Notice Letter

This letter is to notify you that your student is truant for the second time in a school year.  Connecting Waters Charter School (CWCS) records show that your student has

 

[_] missed _______ appointment(s)

[_] has _____ attendance period(s) in which the student has had 50% or less attendance.

 

As you have been previously notified, it is the policy of CWCS to dismiss any student with two truancies in a school year. You are hereby invited to attend and participate in an Evaluation Hearing with the Administration to determine whether it is in your student’s best interest to be enrolled in an independent study program. You and your student will be given an opportunity to speak and to produce evidence relating to your student’s truancies at the meeting.

 

Neither the Evaluation Hearing nor the Administration’s decision regarding dismissal will be postponed if either you or your student fails to attend and participate in the Evaluation Hearing. If the Administration finds that it is not in the student’s  best interest to remain in independent study, then the student shall be dismissed from the Charter School, and you will be required to immediately enroll your student in a site based program through the local school district or other appropriate educational program.

 

CWCS will notify the district in which you reside that your student is no longer enrolled in this school.  If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact the Executive Director, Sherri Nelson at 209-874-1119 x 6.

 

In the event that the Administration decides to dismiss your student from the Charter School, you may appeal the Administration’s decision by submitting a written request to the Parent Council Committee at the Charter School office in Waterford. You will be notified of the scheduled date. The decision of the Parent Council Committee on appeal is final.

 

Your Education Specialist,

(sign and leave your telephone #)