Attendance Policy

Johansen High School and Modesto City Schools, have adopted a strict attendance policy regarding unexcused absences. An unexcused absence is issued after the student misses 30 minutes of class time without authorization, and may result in a step of truancy. Excused absences are those due to illness, medical, dental or optometry appointments, and funeral services for a member of the student’s immediate family as approved by the student’s parent or legal guardian, or for personal reasons with prior administrative approval as noted in the conduct code. Absences due to transportation or traffic issues, power outages, and oversleeping are not excused. Should your student have excessive unexcused absences to their first class of the day, a truancy step may be issued for the accumulation of 6 unexcused absences.

Students who are absent from school without approval of the school shall be considered truant/unexcused and shall NOT be allowed to make-up assignments or tests which were assigned during the truancy/unexcused absence. Students who leave the campus or the classroom without proper school authorization will be considered truant.

Note: If the student has an absence verified at the attendance office at a later time, he/she is not allowed make-up privileges unless he/she presents the teacher a verified re-admit slip within ONE day after the student returns to school.

Further, absences will be considered unexcused and may affect extracurricular eligibility if not cleared within SEVEN school days after the student returns to school.

The preceding are only a few attendance situations. For more detailed information, please refer to the Student Conduct Code.

If a student misses 10 days of school, a District letter is automatically generated and sent home.

If a student misses 15 days during the school year without doctor authorization, he/she will be placed on attendance supervision. Once a student has been placed on attendance supervision every absence thereafter must be cleared with a doctor’s authorization. Truancy steps will accumulate after a student has 5 absences without a doctor’s authorization after being placed on attendance supervision.

If a student has a chronic illness, please submit a medical authorization to both the attendance office and the nurse’s office.