Attendance Policy
Please Report All Absences!
If your student will be absent, or if you have any questions or concerns about our attendance and tardy policies, please contact the Thornhill office by phone at (510) 339-6800, or email [email protected].
Attendance policies are mandated at the state level (not the district level), and our state funding is directly tied to them.
What is considered an “excused” absence?
The State is very clear about what is—and what is not—considered an excused absence:
In the event of a funeral, the following absences are considered “excused”. If the funeral is in the area, only a 1-day absence is “excused”. If the funeral is out of the area, only a 3-day absence is “excused”. Any additional days over those times is considered “Unexcused”.
Please notify the school of ALL absences
Any absence that has NOT been verified by phone, email or note is considered Unverified and is Unexcused. Three Unexcused OR Unverified absences automatically generate a truancy letter from the district.
Independent Study
The duration of Independent Study can be no LESS than 5 days and no MORE than 20. A Master Agreement must be filled out and approved no less than one week prior to the last day of attendance before the I.S Program starts. Work MUST be turned in upon returning to school. The State requires that the work is kept with the Master Agreement until an Audit occurs and the Independent Study Program CANNOT be considered fulfilled until the work is submitted to and approved by the teacher.
If you find yourself in the position of traveling for less than 3 days let your teacher know at least 1 week in advance anyway so they can prepare work to keep your child caught up. Also, call or email the absence in so it doesn’t appear as an Unverified absence on your child’s record.
State Attendance Funds
The ONLY way we receive state attendance funds is if a child is IN class or signed up for an Independent Study and it is fulfilled. Illness do not allow us to collect our State monies , nor do any absences relating to family emergencies, travel, or the like.
Please keep in mind that these are NOT Thornhill Elementary policies, they are the State Mandated Attendance Codes and regardless of any agreements or disagreements we may have with them, it IS how we are funded. Until that model is changed, we are required to uphold those rules to receive our funds.
When Should Children Stay Home From School?
OUSD has created this helpful flyer to know when children should stay home from school.
What is considered an “excused” absence?
The State is very clear about what is—and what is not—considered an excused absence:
- Illness is an excused absence.
- Family travel is NOT an excused absence.
In the event of a funeral, the following absences are considered “excused”. If the funeral is in the area, only a 1-day absence is “excused”. If the funeral is out of the area, only a 3-day absence is “excused”. Any additional days over those times is considered “Unexcused”.
Please notify the school of ALL absences
Any absence that has NOT been verified by phone, email or note is considered Unverified and is Unexcused. Three Unexcused OR Unverified absences automatically generate a truancy letter from the district.
Independent Study
The duration of Independent Study can be no LESS than 5 days and no MORE than 20. A Master Agreement must be filled out and approved no less than one week prior to the last day of attendance before the I.S Program starts. Work MUST be turned in upon returning to school. The State requires that the work is kept with the Master Agreement until an Audit occurs and the Independent Study Program CANNOT be considered fulfilled until the work is submitted to and approved by the teacher.
If you find yourself in the position of traveling for less than 3 days let your teacher know at least 1 week in advance anyway so they can prepare work to keep your child caught up. Also, call or email the absence in so it doesn’t appear as an Unverified absence on your child’s record.
State Attendance Funds
The ONLY way we receive state attendance funds is if a child is IN class or signed up for an Independent Study and it is fulfilled. Illness do not allow us to collect our State monies , nor do any absences relating to family emergencies, travel, or the like.
Please keep in mind that these are NOT Thornhill Elementary policies, they are the State Mandated Attendance Codes and regardless of any agreements or disagreements we may have with them, it IS how we are funded. Until that model is changed, we are required to uphold those rules to receive our funds.
When Should Children Stay Home From School?
OUSD has created this helpful flyer to know when children should stay home from school.
