Attendance and Policies

Attendance Policies & Procedures

Attendance Matters!

Students who attend school regularly are more likely to meet their academic goals, graduate, and go on to college. We want you here!

Students are expected to:

Attend class every day, every period, whenever possible.
Attend each class period on time.
Make up missed assignments promptly.

Parents/guardians are expected to:

Ensure your student attends school every day
Report all absences to the school within 2 school days (48 hours)
Provide a doctor’s note for absences related to medical appointments whenever possible, and for illnesses lasting longer than 3 school days
Reach out to an assistant principal or counselor if you need support getting your student to school

Reporting an Absence

The best way to report an absence is online via Reach My Teach!

If parent(s)/guardian(s) are unable to report their student’s absence online, they may call the attendance office at 408-522-2513 (full day absence) or 408-522-2515 (partial day absence).

Absences must be reported by a parent/guardian, within 2 school days (48 hours). (Note that 18-year-old students may not excuse their own absences unless they have an Adult Status form approved by an Assistant Principal or Dean.)

Full Day Absence

Report full day absences 24 hours in advance or as soon as possible via Reach My Teach.

If the parent/guardian is unable to report their student’s absence online, they may call the attendance office full day absence line at 408-522-2513. When reporting an absence by phone, be sure to provide the following information:

Spell the student’s first and last name
Student ID number
Grade
Date(s) of absence
Reason for the absence (if no reason is provided or the type of appointment is not specified, the absence will be marked unexcused)
Your name, phone number, and relationship to the student

Partial Day Absence

Arriving on campus after school has started or leaving school prior to the end of the schoolday requires parent/guardian permission. If your student needs to arrive late to campus or leave school early, report the partial day absence 24 hours in advance or as soon as possible. See below for details.

Arriving Late (after school has started)

HHS is a closed campus, except during lunch. Students arriving on campus after school has started must check in at the attendance office to get a pass to class. It is recommended that students provide a doctor’s note for all medical appointments.

Parents/guardians should report late arrival at school online via Reach My Teach 24 hours in advance or as soon as possible.

If the parent/guardian is unable to report their student’s absence online, they may call the attendance office partial day absence line at 408-522-2515. When reporting an absence by phone, be sure to provide the following information:

Student ID number
Spell the student’s first and last name
Grade
Date of partial absence
Time student will arrive at school
Reason for the late arrival
Parent/guardian’s name, phone number, and relationship to the student

Leaving Early (before the end of the school day)

Students leaving school during class, brunch, or tutorial for any reason must have an Off Campus Pass from the attendance office. Students may leave campus without an Off Campus Pass during lunch only.

Parents/guardians should report leaving early from school online via Reach My Teach 24 hours in advance or as soon as possible.

Student ID number
Spell the student’s first and last name
Grade
Date of partial absence
Exact time student is to be excused from class
Reason for the early dismissal
Parent/guardian’s name, phone number, and relationship to the student

Tardiness

Students are expected to be on time to class. If a student is more than 30 minutes late to class, or if they are returning to school from an appointment, they must report to the attendance office to get a pass to class.

Students with excessive tardies (10+ per month) may receive interventions including, but not limited to, detention, Saturday School, and/or meeting with an Assistant Principal or Dean.

Illness or Injury at School

If a student becomes ill or is injured at school and needs to go home, they must check out in the office. If we cannot reach a parent/guardian or one of the student’s emergency contacts, the student will have to wait in the school office until we make contact.

Same-Day Pickups

In order to minimize disruptions to instructional time, we discourage calling students out of class. Parents/guardians should report the absence 24 hours in advance or as soon as possible. It is the student’s responsibility to pick up an Off Campus Pass before class or during brunch or lunch. If a parent/guardian forgets to report the absence or something comes up during the day and a student needs to be picked up without prior notification, parent/guardian should come into the office to request their student be released. Please understand that it can take 15-20 minutes or longer to call a student out of class.

Excused vs. Unexcused Absences

While there are many reasons why a parent/guardian may choose to have their student miss school, California law (CA Ed Code Section 48205) provides guidance to schools as to which absences we may excuse.

Common excused absences include:

Illness
- After 3 consecutive days of illness, a doctor’s note is recommended to excuse continued absences
Medical appointment (including dental, chiropractic, mental health appointments)
- It is recommended that students provide a doctor’s note whenever missing school for a medical appointment
Attendance at the funeral services of an immediate family member
School activity (such as a sports game)
Court or probation appointments
Religious/cultural activities

Common unexcused absences include:

Caring for a younger sibling or other family member
College visit
DMV appointment
Non-HHS extracurricular activity
Senior “Ditch Day”
Vacation, travel for other reasons (including visa renewal)

If a student misses class and there is no contact with the attendance office, then the absence will be marked “UKA” (unknown absence). This is an unexcused absence.

Absence Notifications and Attendance Reports

If a student is absent from school for one or more periods in a school day without any contact from a parent/guardian, our system will notify the parent(s)/guardian(s) by email and text. These notifications will include a link to report the absence immediately online via Reach My Teach so that it can be cleared. Please be sure to keep parent/guardian phone numbers and email addresses updated with the school office so we can reach you with these important attendance notifications.

Parents/guardians may also view their students’ full attendance report via the Infinite Campus Portal.

Attendance, truancy, and chronic absenteeism are NOT reported on transcripts or to colleges, jobs, etc.

Attendance Errors/Discrepancies

If a student is marked absent by mistake, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the teacher to correct the error. The student should email the teacher and CC the attendance office at bethany_salvador@fuhsd.org. That way the teacher can ‘reply all’ to correct the attendance. Only the teacher can verify a student’s attendance and allow the attendance office to mark the student present.

Extended Absences

HHS strongly encourages families to make their plans for extended travel during school breaks. Extended absences during class days negatively impact the student, the teacher, and the class environment as a whole. Vacation/travel for any reason (including visa renewal) is considered an unexcused absence. Teachers are not obligated to provide makeup work for unexcused absences.

FUHSD does not offer an independent study program for extended absences.

An absence of 30 days or more will result in the student being disenrolled from school. Families may of course re-enroll when they return to the area. This can, however, have a significant impact on student academic success.

Making Up Work

It is the student’s responsibility to contact each teacher whose class they missed, and/or review Schoology, to get the work they need to make up for a missed class or arrange a time to make up a missed test or quiz.

Teachers are not required to provide make-up work for unexcused absences.

School Activities and Privileges

Participation in sports, school activities, extracurriculars, and other school privileges may be tied to attendance. FUHSD Board Policy states that students must be in attendance at school on the day of the activity in order to participate.

Chronic Absenteeism

Students who miss 10% or more of the schooldays in a given school year are considered chronically absent and will receive interventions to help return them to attending school regularly. These include:

A letter notifying the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the student’s status as chronically absent
A second letter notifying the student and family of their chronic absences
An attendance check-in with the student by a caring adult at school (Administrator, counselor, teacher, etc.)
Referral to the District Attendance Meeting
Referral to the School Attendance Review Team
Referral to the District School Attendance Review Board

If you have questions or concerns about the Chronic Absenteeism Intervention program, feel free to contact your HHS attendance team (below), Alison Coy, Director of Educational Options, at alison_coy@fuhsd.org or Amanda Evans, Educational Options Support Specialist, at amanda_evans@fuhsd.org.

Need More Information?

Attendance Office: Bethany Salvador, 408-522-2513 or bethany_salvador@fuhsd.org
Attendance Administrators:
Dean Melanie Biddle, 408-522-2506 or melanie_biddle@fuhsd.org
Dean Rahul Sharma, 408-522-2556 or rahul_sharma@fuhsd.org

Partial Day Absence:

(408) 522-2515

Full Day Absence:

(408) 522-2513

See the Illness Guidelines before sending your student to school:

Academic Honesty Policy

Annual Notifications

Academic Tutorial Guidelines

Tutorial is considered academic time. The purpose of tutorial is to create an individualized learning environment for all students at Homestead. The following guidelines have been set for Academic Tutorial:

The campus is closed during tutorial.
Students must choose an authorized location (classrooms, the library, computer labs, the career center). Hallways, stairways and landings, the quad, parking lots and unsupervised athletic areas are off limits during tutorial period.
Students may not change areas/classrooms without a pass from the teacher.
All teachers will be in their classrooms. Students may see their teachers to be tutored, obtain make-up work or make-up tests and assignments.
Students in P.E. areas must be dressed in P.E. uniforms, must check in with their PE teacher, and must participate in the scheduled activity.
An academic atmosphere will be maintained. No food will be served. Students may not use electronic devices (iPods, cell phones, etc.) during the period.
A teacher may make tutorial attendance mandatory for any student.
Students with no first or second period class are not required to attend tutorial unless one of their teachers makes attendance mandatory. However, if students are on campus, they must attend tutorial.
Tutorial Presentations (college and career opportunities, study skills workshops, etc.) will be made available to students periodically throughout the year.

Please note: Violation of these guidelines may result in disciplinary action.

Parent/Guardian & Student Handbook

Student Behavior/Zero Tolerance Policy

Homestead High School wishes to create a campus climate focused on academic achievement and student integrity. To this end the following campus rules will be enforced:

CLOSED vs. OPENED CAMPUS

Students are not permitted to leave campus at any time during brunch or tutorial. Students are permitted to leave campus for lunch or, in the case of a hole in a student’s schedule, a student can leave campus with a waiver. You can obtain a waiver from the Guidance Office.

COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS

Please be respectful of Homestead’s neighbors and local businesses regarding trash, language, and behavior.

VISITORS

No one other than staff members and students attending Homestead High will be allowed on the campus during school hours. Visitors who need to be on campus for any reason must check-in at the front office.

TUTORIAL POLICY

Tutorial is academic time. You must be in your chosen tutorial classroom by the time the bell rings. There is no movement between classes during tutorial unless you have a teacher issued pass. Classroom rules apply (i.e. no cell phones, i-pods, playing cards, etc.). The library is open during tutorial, but please be aware that a limited number of students are allowed in the library. If you are found outside of a classroom during tutorial, it will be handled the same way as a cut.

ABSENCE AND TARDY POLICY

Student punctuality and attendance is vital to avoid classroom disruption and to promote a solid learning environment. For these reasons, HHS has developed a policy for dealing with student tardiness and cuts.

Tardy Policy—Incidents of tardiness will be handled on a class-by-class basis. The first three tardies will be dealt with by the teacher. After the 4th tardy, the student will be referred to the Dean who will assign one hour of detention. Each tardy thereafter will result in an additional 30 minutes of detention. If a student does not report for detention, the assigned detention will double in length. With all referrals, the parent will be notified. Additional tardiness or failure to report for assigned detention may result in forfeit of extra-curricular activities, suspension, and/or removal from the class.

Unexcused Absence (Cut) Policy—Cuts will be handled by the Deans. Cutting a class will result in a conference with the Dean, parent/guardian contact, and detention. Continued truancy may result in forfeit of extra-curricular activities, suspension, referral to the Truancy Abatement Program and/or removal from the class. Involvement in Truancy Abatement Program results in a referral to the District Attorney’s Office which leads to fines of up to $400, required community service and forfeit of driver’s license.

DRESS EXPECTATIONS

Student dress should be appropriate for school and not distract from or disrupt the learning environment: no materials, writing, symbols, locations, or group "colors", no obscene or vulgar images, no references to drugs or alcohol, no spiked accessories, no exposed underwear, or too much skin or bare feet. Violation of these expectations may result in a Clothing Contract which will outline consequences should a student continue to violate dress expectations.

USE OF PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Use of electronic devices (i.e. i-pods, cell phones, MP3 players, gaming devices, etc.) in the classroom may result in confiscation of the item. Continued violation will result in parent conference with the Dean.

VEHICLES

Students who wish to drive vehicles to campus must park in the designated student parking lot only and must display an HHS parking pass. Failure to follow these rules may result in a parking ticket or loss of parking privileges.

OTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION

Skateboards, roller blades, scooters, and bikes cannot be ridden on campus. Should you need to use these items as methods of transportation please do not use the items while on campus. Item will be confiscated if ridden on campus. The school and/or school district cannot be responsible for loss of unsecured property.

CONSEQUENCES WHEN CAMPUS RULES ARE VIOLATED

Administrator/student and/or parent conference
Detention/school service assignments
Forfeit of extra curricular activities
Administrative recommendation for transfer to another school or program in the district.

WHEN & WHERE CAMPUS RULES AND ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY APPLY

School rules apply during school hours and during school sponsored events both on and off campus (i.e. sporting events, dances, club activities, school sponsored trips, etc.).

School hours include travel time to and from school, sponsored events, as well as the lunch hour.
School officials can search with “reasonable suspicion” (law enforcement needs “probable cause”).

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

The Fremont Union High School District strictly enforces a "Zero Tolerance" policy. Discipline rules and regulations for the students of the Fremont Union High School District have been established to reflect the California State Education Code and the policies determined by the Board of Trustees. For most discipline cases, the school staff will intervene with actions such as detention, student/parent conference, and/or suspensions. However, the Education Code and District policies mandate a recommendation for expulsion from the district for certain, more sever behaviors. The principal of the school must recommend expulsion for the following behaviors, even if the student has no prior disciplinary history:

The following violations will result in suspension from Homestead High School and may result in recommendation for expulsion from the Fremont Union High School District:
Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm,
Possession/brandishing of any knife; possession of an explosive, or other dangerous object of no reasonable use to the pupil,
Unlawful possession, sale or distribution of any controlled substance,
Causing serious physical injury to another person; robbery or extortion,
Assault or battery upon any school employee,
Damaging school or private property (including damage caused by “pranks”),
Possessing or using tobacco or tobacco products,
Committing an obscene act (in person, via e-mail or text messaging) or habitual profanity or vulgarity,
Possessing or selling drug paraphernalia,
Disrupting school activities or defying valid authority,
Receiving stolen property,
Harassing (including sexual harassment), threatening, or intimidating others (in person, via e-mail or text
messaging),
Participating in hate crimes of any kind (in person, via e-mail or text messaging),
Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause physical injury to another person
Using, possessing, or being under the influence of a controlled substance, including an alcoholic beverage
or any intoxicant,
Theft of, or attempt to steal, school or private property,
Possessing an imitation firearm.

Violations in any of these areas may also result in the student being referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency.