Revised 7/2005

CW Truancy Policy and Procedures

Truancy Policy

The definition of "truancy" for this charter School is defined in the policy below as a missed appointment/attendance period. This is not the same definition of "truancy" as defined by California Education Code, nor are the practices and procedure below defined by California Education Code, but by this charter school.

 

Truancy Policy

Charter School students who are truant for two school appointment/attendance periods (length of time between meetings or scheduled appointments with the school, but no more than 20 days maximum) within the same school year, will be dropped from the school and will not be permitted to re-enroll in the school at a later date. Please note that the truant attendance periods within one school year do not have to be consecutive. Truancy is documented on the Attendance Roll Sheet as 50% or less attendance during any consecutive school days on the student's calendar track (example: 7 truant school days over a 14 day period, 3 out of 5 days). Full attendance is based on work in 5 growth areas for a K – 8 student or a high school student attempting a minimum of 25 credits. For allowable variations, consult your ES Advisor.

 

Truant Practices

Some ESs will work with students who consistently fail to appear at scheduled appointments/meetings, such as: they are often late, do not give notice that they will not show, give last minute notice of the need to reschedule, and/or they reschedule several times in one month. They might also have students who do not demonstrate sufficient work in order to give 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 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!

 

Regular Truancy Procedures

1. 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 generate and print a 1st truancy letter directly from ES Webfiles. (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, indicating that you mailed a truant letter to (student) on (date). Print and mail immediately to the family (put the IEM address as the return address). Send the truant attendance roll sheet to the office ASAP, and 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.

2. If you are unable to reach the student or parent, then send a letter to them (see sample letter in the ES Handbook), 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 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”—do not delay!

3. If your student has had a first truancy, be sure to set the following meeting date for less than 20 days (preferably for 5  days later, so you can be sure the student is getting on track). If the student misses the next appointment and earns only 50% attendance or less, then the ES fills out another truant roll sheet and generates and mails a 2nd truancy letter (e-mail studentrecords@ieminc.org again and get the roll sheet in immediately). The student must then be dropped immediately from the Charter School.

4. When a student is truant for a second appointment, the ES needs to generate and print a 2nd truancy letter directly from ES Webfiles. (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.) Email studentrecords@ieminc.org , indicating that you mailed a 2nd truant letter to (student) on (date). Print and mail immediately to the family (put the IEM address as the return address). Send the truant attendance roll sheet in ASAP, and 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. Submit a drop form.

Special Education Students Truancy Procedure

If the truant student is an identified Special Education student, do not create the 2nd truancy letter or submit a drop form until you have communicated by e-mail with the Special Education office (mcarr@ieminc.org) or (mday@ieminc.org). Special Ed asks that you carefully document every attempt to contact and work with the family. After receiving their approval, create and mail the 2nd truancy letter and submit the drop form.

 

High School Students Truancy Procedure

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!

 

Additional Notes on Truancy

Remember that the ES is the person responsible for submitting a timely drop form for a student who is receiving their second truancy notice. We cannot keep students enrolled who are not making regular educational progress!

Our school Truancy policies apply to Adult students (age 18 and over), except that we do not mail out truancy letters since they are not under compulsory attendance laws. You will need to inform your adult students when they are truant of the consequences if they have a 2nd month of truancy.

Sometimes there are special circumstances when a student's hard copy attendance roll sheet is going to look like a truant attendance form, but they should not receive a truancy letter. In this case, you will need to indicate on the first section of the LR that “this student is not truant”, and give a brief explanation.

Examples:

1. If a student is taking community college classes, and is not attempting to earn a minimum of 20 units (not counting any college credits) in the charter school, then only half attendance credit can be claimed.

(See Community College policy for details)

2. If a student only has only 2 classes left to take before graduation (10 units), but wishes to spread them out over an entire semester instead of working on them full-time, then only ˝ attendance can be claimed.

For further questions about determining whether or not a student is truant, or if you have one of the circumstances above, please consult with your ES Advisor.