TORRANCE HIGH SCHOOL - ATTENDANCE OFFICE
Attendance Office Hours: (Monday - Friday) 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Attendance Office Email: thsattendance@tusd.org
Phone: (310) 533-4396 Ext: 7970
Fax: (310) 972-6416
ATTENDANCE SHORTCUTS FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS:
• Was your student absent from school? If yes, click here.
• Does your student need to leave school during school hours? If yes, click here.
• What do the PowerSchool attendance codes mean? To learn, click here.
• What if my student is ill at school? To learn, click here.
• What if my student does not attend his/her 6th period sport? To learn, click here.
COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
What are the school attendance requirements in California?
• Every person between the ages of six (6) years and eighteen (18) years of age is required to attend school. (Education Code 48200)
• Students are expected to attend school regularly and on time.
• Parents and guardians are required to send their children to school.
• When students do not attend punctually or are absent the entire school day, the reason must be identified and recorded as either Excused or Unexcused. Excused absences are compliant with compulsory attendance law; Unexcused absences are noncompliant with attendance law, but are not considered truant.
HOW TO VERIFY AN ABSENCE
Parents/Legal Guardians and Students: We encourage you to check “PowerSchool” on a regular basis for attendance. Parents/Legal Guardians - please do not call in your student’s absence as NO absences will be cleared by phone or by a phone message. Absences must be verified by a student’s parent/legal guardian within 48 hours by email or note or the absence will be marked as “TRUANT.”
- NOTES must be signed by a parent/legal guardian in pen and the signature must match to their signature on file.
- Parents/Legal Guardians may also FAX their student's note of excuse to: (310) 972- 6416.
- EMAILS must come from the parent/legal guardian’s email address listed in PowerSchool. If you can not remember the email address on record in PowerSchool (and have multiple email addresses), please “CC” all of your other email addresses.
VERIFYING YOUR STUDENT’S ABSENCE BY SENDING AN EMAIL:
Send your Email to: thsattendance@tusd.org
1. Subject Line: Absence for [Full Legal Name of Student] on [Date]
- Include in your Email the following information:
2. Student’s full legal name:
3. Grade and student ID #:
4. Date of absence(s) and period(s) missed:
5. Reason for absence(s):
6. Parent/Legal Guardian name:
7. Relationship to the student:
9. Parent/Legal Guardian phone number where they can be reached:
If your student missed classes/school due to a doctor/dental/medical appointment, please attach a photo or scan of the official doctor/dental medical note to your email.
When a student has been absent for 5 school days or longer (due to illness, injury, surgery, etc), a doctor’s note is required and must state the date that the student is able to return to school.
VERIFYING YOUR STUDENT’S ABSENCE BY SUBMITTING A NOTE:
Upon your arrival to school, please bring your excuse note to the Attendance Office. It is your responsibility to arrive early enough to come into the Attendance Office and still be on time to class. We do not write tardy passes. Please hand your note to a staff member in the Attendance Office.
For your convenience, please “click” this link for the Torrance High-ABSENCE-EXCUSE-NOTE-TEMPLATE
YOUR NOTE MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
(INK ONLY PLEASE & EVEN IF THE STUDENT IS 18 YEARS OF AGE):
1. Student’s full name
2. Student’s ID number and Grade Level
3. Full date(s) of absence(s) and periods missed
4. Reason for absence
5. Parent/Legal Guardian Signature
6. Relationship to the student
7. Parent/Legal Guardian phone number where they can be reached
8. If your student missed classes/school due to a doctor/dental/medical appointment, please attach the official doctor/dental/medical note or any doctor’s note(s) to your student’s excuse note. When a student has been absent for 5 school days or longer (due to illness, injury, surgery, etc), a doctor’s note is required and must state the date that the student is able to return to school.
*Forged absence notes will result in the absence(s) being marked "Truant" and the student will be assigned Saturday School. This may also affect the student's citizenship grade and athletic/extracurricular eligibility.
FAILURE TO NOTIFY THE ATTENDANCE OFFICE WITHIN 48 HOURS OF AN ABSENCE
1. Your absence will be marked “TRUANT.”
2. Parent/Guardian must contact our THS Assistant Principal, Ms. Kelsey Jimerson at jimerson.kelsey@tusd.org, to receive permission in order for the attendance office to accept the late verification
3. If approved by Ms. Jimerson, the attendance office will be notified and the truant will be removed and coded appropriately.
TRUANT absences from previous quarters cannot be cleared once the quarter ends. Please see the quarter calendar below:
| 2023-24 QUARTER Calendar | |
|---|---|
|
Quarter 1 |
08/24/2023 - 11/03/2023 |
|
Quarter 2 |
11/05/2023 - 01/26/2024 |
|
Quarter 3 |
01/28/2024 - 03/29/2024 |
|
Quarter 4 |
04/01/2024 - 06/13/2024 |
POWERSCHOOL ATTENDANCE CODES
We post student attendance according to the State of California Ed Code. If you notify the Attendance Office (by email, note, or fax) within 48 hours of an absence and see a “U” posted, the absence is considered Verified - but- DOES NOT meet the reasons outlined in Education Code.
E = Verified absence, reason aligns with Educational Code
D = Verified absence, excused due to a doctor, dentist, or eye appointment with a medical note
U = Verified absence, reason DOES NOT meet Educational Code
T = Missing from class period-Truant, unverified by school staff or parent/guardian (after 48 hours)
L = Tardy to class, less than 30 minutes late
A = Absence, still needs to be verified by parent/guardian within 48 hours
What is considered a valid, legal absence?
• Absences are EXCUSED for the following reasons, when verified:
• A student’s illness (not parent’s or another family member’s).
• Quarantine under the direction of a county or city health officer.
• Medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic appointments.
• Attending the funeral of an immediate family member: one (1) day in California; three (3) days out of California. Immediate family member means the student’s mother/father, brother/sister, child, grandmother/grandfather, or spouse, spouse’s mother/father, spouse’s child, spouse’s brother/sister, or any relative living in the immediate household of the student (Education Code 48205).
• Court appearance when the student has a subpoena with his/her name on it.
• Religious holiday/retreat/ceremony (max of four (4) hours per semester) with prior written request from parent and approval from the school.
• Verified absence due to illness or quarantine is allowed. Verification may be by one of the following: school/public health nurse, attendance supervisor, physician, teacher, or any other qualified employee of the school district. (Education Code 46011, CCR Title 5, Sec. 421)
• To attend his/her naturalization ceremony to become a United States citizen.
TRUANCY POLICY
Truants result from unverified absences and can negatively affect a student's progress in class and their eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities. Any absences not cleared after 48 hours will become truant. Truant absences result in students earning no credit for any assignments that were due on the day of truancy. Two (2) truant absences for any class during a semester may result in an “Unsatisfactory” grade on the semester report card. Beginning at three (3) truant absences per semester, students will be assigned Saturday School detention. Five (5) truant absences for a period of class may result in a referral to the District Attendance Review Board (SARB).
TARDY POLICY
Promptness in reporting to school and to the classroom is vital to the efficient operation of the school and the individual class. Any student who is not in his/her class when the bell rings, is tardy. Five (5) tardies may result in an “Unsatisfactory” citizenship grade for the class at the quarter. Six (6) or more tardies will result in Saturday School detention. Repeated tardiness will result in a disciplinary consequence, such as the loss of extracurricular privileges, and/or a referral to SART (School Attendance Review Team) and SARB (School Attendance Review Board).
If a student is late 30 minutes or more to class, the student will be marked absent and will need a note from the parent to clear the absence.
HOW TO REQUEST AN OFF-CAMPUS-PASS (OCP)
EMAIL: This is the fastest and preferred method. A parent/legal guardian email (from the parent/legal guardian’s email address on record in PowerSchool) to thsattendance@tusd.org at least 1 hour prior to the time the student needs to leave campus. All OCP requests for the day are required to be emailed to the attendance office prior to 11:00 am.
To request your student’s Off-Campus-Pass (OCP) by sending an Email:
• Send your Email to: thsattendance@tusd.org
• Subject Line: OCP for [Full Legal Name of Student]
• Include in your email the following information:
• Student’s Full Legal Name:
• Grade and Student ID:
• Date(s) of Early Release and Period(s) Missed:
• Time of Early Release (specific time required:
• Reason for Early Release:
• Parent/Legal Guardian Name & Phone number:
To request your student’s Off-Campus-Pass (OCP) by submitting a note:
For your convenience, please “click” this link for the THS-OFF-CAMPUS-PASS--REQUEST FORM-TEMPLATE
1. Please bring a note signed by your parent or legal guardian stating your full name, grade level & ID number, date, dismissal time, the reason for leaving campus early (doctor/dental/optometric appointment, personal, etc.), how you will be leaving campus (driving self, parent pick-up, walking), and, if you will be returning to campus (reminder-students leaving for “personal or illness” reasons cannot return to school the same day).
Please hand your Off-Campus-Pass request to a staff member in the Attendance Office. Off-Campus-Pass requests are due in the Attendance Office BEFORE 8:00 a.m.
The staff member in the Attendance Office will phone your parent/legal guardian to confirm the Off-Campus-Pass request.
Come back to the Attendance Office at snack, lunch, or in between classes to pick up your Off-Campus-Pass.
NO OFF-CAMPUS-PASSES WILL BE ISSUED DURING FINAL EXAMS
IF YOUR STUDENT BECOMES ILL AT SCHOOL
Students: Please DO NOT text or call your parents asking them to contact the school. Please speak to your teacher about getting a pass to come and see the Health Office personnel. Our school LVN or Health Services Assistant, will call your parent/legal guardian and arrange for the Off-Campus-Pass (OCP).
Parents: Please DO NOT email to request an off-campus pass from the attendance office if your student is ill at school. District mandates that for the health and safety of everyone on campus, your student needs to leave from our health office.
IF YOUR STUDENT HAS A 6TH PERIOD SPORT
1. 6th period SPORT IS A CLASS. When you use the “athletic” sticker on your ID to leave campus, you are expected to attend the athletic class. If you are not going to attend, you must get an Off-Campus-Pass (OCP) in the manner described above BEFORE 6TH PERIOD.
2. You must get an Off-Campus-Pass (OCP) even if you have made prior arrangements with your Coach.
3. Leaving campus and then not attending your sport, will result in a “WALK-OFF-TRUANCY” and assigned a Saturday School Detention. This TRUANT (see below ) cannot be “cleared” after the fact, even if the parent/legal guardian provides a note.
Parents/Legal Guardians: Please be aware, any student leaving school without prior approval- and-a “OFF-CAMPUS-PASS” (including student-athletes leaving 6th period for appointments) will be issued a “TRUANT.” This TRUANT cannot be cleared. NO EXCEPTIONS. Students may be cited by the Torrance Police for truancy. Students leaving campus without permission will be issued a “Truant” absence for the class (or classes) and assigned a Saturday School Detention.
Regular attendance and being on time are requirements for a successful high school experience and future success after high school. California State Law requires daily school attendance to the age of eighteen unless the California High School Proficiency Test has been passed, or until graduation. We encourage continued parent/legal guardian support to promote good school attendance and student achievement. Regular school attendance is the most valuable gift you can give your student.