Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District
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Attendance - Educational Services
Regular school attendance is a necessary part of the learning process and provides a successful path to graduation and beyond. Students who are frequently absent may be putting their futures in jeopardy. Chronic absenteeism and truancy are behaviors that are highly associated with dropping out of school.
Regular attendance is essential for success in school. Chronic absenteeism and/or truancy are not the problem; they are indicators of other issues. When students aren’t in school, we need to understand why they stay away before we can develop appropriate supports. It is critical for the parents and school team to work together to understand what is impeding a student from attending school regularly and develop interventions to help re-engage the student in the learning environment.
If you are concerned about your student’s attendance, please contact your site administrator to discuss the appropriate next steps to support your child.
School Attendance Review Team (SART) and School Attendance Review Board (SARB)
California compulsory education law requires that everyone between the ages of six and eighteen years of age attend school, except sixteen and seventeen year-olds who have graduated from high school or passed the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) and obtained parental permission to leave. However, some students violate compulsory education laws and have a pattern of unexcused absences (truancy). Others struggle to attend consistently even if each individual absence might be for a reason defined as "excused" under CA Education Code (chronic absenteeism). Although truancy and chronic absenteeism are not new problems, they cause costly, long-term problems for the students, school, and the community.
In 1974, the CA Legislature enacted Education Code (EC) Section 48320 to enhance the enforcement of compulsory education laws and to divert students with school attendance or behavior problems from the juvenile justice system until all available resources have been exhausted. EC Section 48321 provides several organizational structures for School Attendance Review Boards (SARBs) at the local and county level to create a safety net for students with persistent attendance or behavior problems. Although the goal of SARBs is to keep students in school and provide them with a meaningful educational experience, SARBs do have the power, when necessary, to refer students and their parents or guardians to court. EC Sections 48260 - 48263 lay out the definitions and procedures that govern the SARB process.
PVPUSD school sites monitor student attendance with the goal of reducing truancy and chronic absenteeism. The schools follow the processes listed in Ed. Code and will send a series of letters and schedule School Attendance Review Team meetings with students and families if attendance continues to be an issue. Again, even excused absences are included when determining if a student is chronically absent. If the school site's efforts to address truancy and chronic absenteeism are unsuccessful, the student will be referred to PVPUSD's SARB.
School Attendance Review Board Hearing Dates
PVPUSD Malaga Cove Administrative Offices
Board Room, 9:00 a.m.
375 Via Almar
Palos Verdes Estates, CA, 90274
310.378.9966 ext. 021