Attendance

If a student is going to be absent for any reason, parents should call or email the attendance office for each period and or day of absence. Messages may be left 24 hours a day at (626) 939-0600 (x6045). If phone contact does not occur, parents can send an email to edgewood.attendance@wcusd.org verifying the cause of absence to the Attendance Office.

Absences

Excused Absence

* Personal Illness or Injury

* Quarantine under the direction of a country or city or city health officer

* Medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic service rendered

* Attendance at funeral service for a member of the immediate

* Jury duty In the manner provided by law

* Pupil is custodial parent of a child who is ill or has a medical appointment during school

* Pupils in grade 7-12 who leave school ( with prior approval of the principal or his/her designee ) to obtain confidential medical service.

Avoiding Absences, Written Excuses

The West Covina Unified School District urges parents to make sure their children attend school regularly and to schedule medical and other appointments after school or during school holidays. The district also asks that travel or other absences be avoided during the time school is in session. The higher the district’s daily attendance rate, the more a student will learn and the greater the amount of funding that the district will receive from the state for classroom instruction and academic programs. The school calendar is designed to minimize problems for families which plan vacations around traditional holiday periods, and thereby minimize student absences.

—-Following an absence, a student is required to bring a written excuse from home when returning to school. Illnesses, and doctor and dental appointments are considered excused absences. Absences without a written excuse are recorded as unexcused.

Truancy Definitions

EC 48260, 48262 and 48263.6 A student is considered truant after three absences or three tardies of more than 30 minutes each time and the absences or tardies are unexcused. After a student has been reported as a truant three or more times in a school year, the student is considered a habitual truant. A student who is absent from school without a valid excuse for 10% or more of the school days in one school year, from the date of enrollment to the current date, is considered a chronic truant. Unexcused absences are all absences that do not fall within EC 48205. The text of EC 48205 is provided on page 18.