Attendance Matters

Baldwin Park Unified School District is committed to the success of all students. Regular school attendance is critical to achieving our District’s mission of Ensuring High Achievement for ALL Learners.

Baldwin Park Unified urges parents to ensure their children attend school regularly and to schedule medical and other appointments after school or during school holidays. The district also asks that travel or other absences be avoided during the time school is in session. The higher the district’s daily attendance rate, the more a student will learn and the greater the amount of funding that the district will receive from the state for classroom instruction and academic programs. The school calendar is designed to minimize problems for families which plan vacations around traditional holiday periods, and thereby minimize student absences.

The Baldwin Park Unified School District Board Policy BP 5113, Administrative Regulation AR 5113 enforces the California Department of Education compulsory education law. It requires everyone between the ages of six and eighteen years of age to attend school. Parents/guardians are required to send their children to school regularly for the full length of the scheduled school day and year. Family vacations are recommended to be taken during non-school days. Extended vacations taken while school is in session are considered to be personnel unexcused absences.

We are here to help support you and your family, as we know you will help and support our school in the success and achievement of a bright future for your children. Together we can achieve a healthier attendance ritual during your child's school year.

Refer to the following for attendance information:

Habitual Truancy: The definition of a truant is 3 unexcused absences and/or 3 unexcused tardiness of 30 minutes or more during one school year to become a habitual truant subject to penalties. When a student reaches this point and attendance is problematic, our school site will then refer the student through our school SST, SART, and to the district SARB.

Warning Letters: Accumulating three unexcused absences will trigger a letter of warning through Parent Square or mailed to your home address. This includes 10+ excessive excused absences (AR5113). Six unexcused absences will trigger a 2nd letter of warning and referral to meet with the Student Attendance Referral Team (SART), headed by the Assistant Principal. Nine unexcused absences will trigger a 3rd letter of warning. Ten or more unexcused absences will result in a referral to our School Attendance Review Board (SARB) at the district office.

Chronic absenteeism means a student who is absent for any reason 10 percent or more of the school days in the school year when the total number of days the student is absent is divided, by the total number of days the student is enrolled and school was actually taught in the regular schools of the district, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays. (Education Code 60901)

SART/SARB Information: Anytime after six unexcused absences/truant tardiness. The teacher, counselor or clerk may refer a student to the school's assistant principal assigned to the School Attendance Review Team (SART). A conference and contract agreement will then be conducted between the student and parent (ED Code 48262). Our School Attendance Review Team monitors all unexcused, excessive excused absences and tardiness. Contract agreements are to remain in place, for one full year from the effective date and be reviewed afterward. Absences are calculated from the start of the student's enrollment date of each new school year.

If there is still no improvement in the student's attendance after a SART. The student will be referred to the Child Welfare and Attendance office, in which a School Attendance Review Board (SARB) hearing will be held. The Baldwin Park Unified School District SARB is composed of representatives from health services, special education, mental health, city police, probation, social services, youth services, our Board of Education, and the District Attorney's Office.

How to Report an Absence

When students are absent from school, absences must be reported within 5 days from the first day missed. After the 5th day, students will be marked as unexcused without parent/guardian communication.

The following are steps on how to report absences:

Dial (626) 338-4319 and follow the prompts to attendance. Leave a detailed message as to why your child is not or has not come to school. Include the date(s) missed, student's first and last name, and student ID number and be as clear as possible to avoid any errors.

Use the Synergy ParentVue portal. Medical notes and or legal documents may be uploaded.
If you know your child will be absent for more than 3 days due to a personal unexcused reason, please contact the front office to ask for Short Term Independent Studies.
If you are experiencing an unavoidable length of absences, please contact the attendance team for possible options.

Attendance Recovery Program is offered through a fun learning experience during select Saturday School.

If your child has one full day of absence during the schedule month of attendance, they may qualify for this four hour recovery (8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.) Breakfast and lunch included!