In this time of budget issues it is more important than ever that we attempt to reclaim as much ADA as possible.  Everyday a student is absent; the school loses approximately $40.00.  With nearly 2500 students on campus the amount of money lost each year can be staggering.  Based on a 95% attendance rate, the school loses nearly $900,000.00 a year.

This year, Clovis Unified has authorized the use of a new attendance code for its internal reporting system.  This new code is causing discomfort amongst some parents. 

The new code is labeled “Saturday School”.  The discomfort is being felt as parents check their child’s attendance on Parent Connect or receives a Progress Report that states that an absence they had previously cleared with the attendance office has been changed to “Saturday School”.  We realize this label currently has some negative connotations with parents and have requested that the code be changed to say “Reclaimed ADA”.

The primary reason for the use of this attendance code is to show that a student who has previously been absent has participated in a four hour study session with a credentialed teacher.  By participating in this study session, the school is allowed to then reclaim ADA from the state of California for that child’s previous absence.

There are a variety of ways that students may participate in these study sessions.  Saturday School is just one of the most common options and was chosen to be used to represent all the other options. Examples of other activities that are included within this code include but are not limited to:

• AP Study Sessions.
• Study Sessions for students who are on school related trips.
• Saturday or extended school hour field trips for different classes.

In addition, this year we have opened up attendance at Thursday and Saturday Schools to students who would like an opportunity to make up work and have a credentialed teacher available to assist them.  We are also requesting teachers who allow students to do extra credit work, require them to do so at Thursday School.

There are many different reasons that a student can receive the new “Saturday School” code besides attending Saturday School.  WE as a staff realize the Saturday School code represents an extra effort on the part of a student to make up work.  WE do not view this in a negative manner.

Please assist us by making sure that your child is at school everyday and if they are absent, that they attend either Saturday or Thursday school to make up the missing work.

ATTENDANCE OFFICE HOURS

MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

7:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

(559) 327-2467   

A live person will be available to answer any questions regarding school attendance at the number above between 7:05 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.  After 3:30 p.m., the phone will go to voice mail.  

You may leave messages on the following phone numbers at anytime.     

24-HOUR ATTENDANCE LINES  

(559) 327-2251 English 

(559) 327-2281 Espanol

(559) 327-2235 Hmong  

Please clear all absences within 24 hours.

Por favor llame si tiene que aclarar la ausencia en 24 horas.

Thov qhia qhov koj tus me nyuam tsis tuaj kawm ntawv tsis pub dhau 24 xuabmoos.    

Please note that only parents or legal guardians may clear a student's absence.  All absences must be cleared within 24 hours from the day your child was absent in order to avoid the student having to serve Thursday or Saturday School. 

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact our office.  

OFF-CAMPUS PASS  

All students are required to have off-campus passes before leaving campus during school hours for any reason.  Failure to do so, students will be in violation of school policy.  Off-campus passes can be obtained at the Attendance Office located in the Administration Building.   

Important, no underclassmen may leave campus between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. without their parents or legal guardians actually signing them out and picking them up from the Attendance Office.

A NOTE ABOUT UNCLEARED ABSENCES

On average, the Clovis West Student Services Office will make contact with nearly 300 students a week regarding uncleared absences.  The purpose of our contacts is to assist great students in avoiding future complications because of inaccurate attendance.  During each class period, teachers are required to take attendance.  When a student is absent, teachers indicate this on their attendance with a code of “0”.  When parents contact the attendance office to verify a student's absence, the attendance office changes the “0” to the appropriate code that matches the reason given.  Of our nearly 300 students seen each week we can identify nearly 90% of uncleared absences as either tardies or appointments with staff members on site. The remaining 10% are either truancies, left campus without an off campus pass, or unexcused. 

Although 300 may seem like a lot of errors, it reflects a good effort on the part of the staff.  There are approximately 2600 students attending Clovis West and most of them attend 6 classes per day.  That means there are 78,000 opportunities for an error each week.  With only 300 errors that equates to less than a 1% error ratio.  Unfortunately, when a student is marked absent there can be ramifications later in the year.  Students with numerous absences are identified as "habitually truant" and are mailed a letter by our district and may need to meet with the school site's SARB coordinator.  It is a waste of everyone's time to attend unnecessary SARB meetings, prepare unnecessary letters, and address issues that are really non-existent.  At the end of the school day, any absence that has not been accounted for or remains coded as a “0” initiates a phone call from the SCHOOL MESSENGER SYSTEM.  This is an automated system that attempts to contact the parent or guardian at the first phone number listed in the ZANGLE system.  The purpose of this contact is to inform parents that a student has missed class and that the absence needs to be cleared.  At the end of each week, the Student Services Office identifies each student who still has an uncleared absence on their record from the previous week. 

Students are able to do the following once they are contacted:

1. Go to the teacher that has them marked absent and have the teacher sign off that an error has been made.
2. Take the paper home to show their parent that there is an absence that has not been cleared and have their parent contact the Student Services Office.
3. Declare that they missed the class without their parent's consent (Truant).

In the event that a student states they were Truant, the Student Services Office will contact the parent immediately and discuss the situation. In order to expedite the process and have students miss as little instruction as possible, when they are summoned to the Student Services Office they are automatically assigned to either Saturday School or Thursday School.  This also assists the student in finding the motivation to clear the absence as quickly as possibly and helps allow all of us to avoid the unnecessary consequences discussed earlier. The student has the remainder of the week to clear the absence and bring back the paperwork to the Student Services Office.  Once the paperwork is brought back, the Saturday or Thursday School obligation is cleared.  Paperwork must be returned to the Student Services Office the same week in which it is received by the student.  

Parents of students who still have an uncleared absence will be notifed by SCHOOL MESSENGER of their student's Saturday or Thursday School obligations.

Clovis West Area Schools

Fort Washington

Liberty

Lincoln

Maple Creek

Nelson

Pinedale

Valley Oak

Kastner