All students are required by Arizona State Law to attend school. Regular and on-time attendance is essential to success in school. Attending school each day is very important for learning. Students are expected to attend 90% of the instructional days. Arizona Language Preparatory defines excess absences as absences more than 10% of the days in membership for the school year (eighteen 18 days), excused and unexcused combined.
Reporting an Absence
The Department of Education defines an excused absence as being an absence due to illness, doctor appointments, bereavement, family emergencies, and out-of-school suspensions not to exceed 10% of the instructional days scheduled for the school year. State law mandates that the school records the reason for all student absences. Please note ALP does not consider family vacations as excused absences.
When a student is absent, it will be necessary for the parent to call the ALP office at 602-996-1595 on or before the day of the absence to advise the school as to the reason for the absence. The school may require documentation from a doctor to verify a medical condition when absences total more than 10 percent of the number of required attendance days.
If phone contact has not been made with the school, a note or email from the parent must be presented to the attendance office on the morning that the student returns to school. Please do not send absence communication through the REMIND app.
The note must contain:
- the student’s name
- date of absence
- the specific reason for the absence
- Parent/Guardian signature
All absences must be excused within forty-eight (48) hours of the date of absence, or they will remain unexcused. If your child is to leave early during school hours, the person picking up the student must be listed on their student information card and show a valid picture I.D. Students may not participate in after-school or extracurricular activities if they were not in attendance at school on the day of the activity.
Tardies
A student is tardy if they arrive after 8:00 a.m. If a student is late for arrival to school, the parent should accompany the student to the office to sign him or her in. If this is impossible, the parent must call or send a note and the student must report to the attendance office before going to the classroom. If the student has continuous tardiness, parents will be notified to determine a course of action as excessive tardiness can lead to academic difficulties for the student.
Attendance Reporting Policies & Procedures
Unauthorized absence from school is considered truancy and will be treated as such. A child with:
• 3 unexcused absences – A staff member confers with student and parent/guardian.
• 5 unexcused absences – Principal sends letter to the address on record warning parent/guardian of possible truancy.• 9 unexcused absences – A staff member makes personal contact with parent/guardian. Students may possibly lose field trip privileges.
• 9 unexcused absences – A staff member makes a personal contact with parent/guardian. Students may possibly lose fieldtrip privileges.
• 12 unexcused absences – Staff hand-delivers or sends letters to parent/guardian. The parent/guardian and/or student may be issued a citation for violation of Arizona Revised Statute A.R.S. §15-802. A citation would require that the parent/guardian appear in court and consequences may include participation in a Parent Truancy Class and program fees to attend the class. If convicted, it is a Class 3 Misdemeanor punishable by jail time and/or fine.
• 15 unexcused absences – Principal sends letter to the address on record warning parent/guardian of possible court proceedings if student’s absences continue. Theparent/guardian and/or student may be issued a citation for violation of Arizona Revised Statute A.R.S. §15-802. A citation would require that the parent/guardian appear in court and consequences may include participation in a Parent Truancy Class and program fees to attend the class. If convicted, it is a Class 3 Misdemeanor punishable by jail time and/or fine.
• 18 unexcused absences – Staff hand-delivers or sends letter to parent/guardian. The parent/guardian and/or student may be issued a citation for violation of Arizona Revised Statute A.R.S. §15-802. A citation would require that the parent/guardian appear in court and consequences may include participation in a Parent Truancy Class and program fees to attend the class. If convicted, it is a Class 3 Misdemeanor punishable by jail time and/or fine.
Additional citations and/or letters may be sent to parents to address attendance. Good attendance is vital for success in school. It is important that parents and the school work together to ensure good attendance.
A child who is habitually truant or who has excessive absences may be adjudicated an incorrigible child as defined in A.R.S. §8-201. Absences may be considered excessive when the number of absent days exceeds ten percent of the number of required attendance days prescribed in A.R.S. §15-802 subsection B, paragraph 1. For ALP this is 18 days (excused and unexcused combined).
Make-Up Work
Student attendance is important to ensure high levels of student learning and should occur only when necessary. A student who is absent will be permitted the same amount of time of the absence to complete make-up work.
Revised by Governing Board November, 2021