FILLMORE : Students Missing 12 Days May Not Pass

Beginning next year, Fillmore Junior and Senior High students who miss 12 days of school may fail their classes. Fillmore Unified School District trustees voted 3 to 1 Tuesday, with one abstention, for a stricter attendance policy because they feel that some students push their absences to the maximum permitted.

The new 12-day limit changes a policy in effect since 1986 that allowed students to miss up to 15 days of class and still earn credit for the course. The tougher policy is intended “to send the message that students belong in school,” said Phillip Catalano, administrator in charge of attendance.

The number of permitted absences is the only change in the attendance policy. Catalano said parents will still be notified when students miss too much school, and students who feel that they should pass a course despite their absences will use the same procedures to appeal the decision.

All absences, with or without valid excuses, are included in the 12-day total, but school officials may waive the rule if a student missed school legitimately and has made up the work. District policy excuses absences for medical reasons, a death in the immediate family or school-approved activities.

Catalano said students who appeal for class credit will need the support of the teachers involved. The appeal begins with the school’s assistant principal and may continue with the district’s Attendance Appeal Board if the matter is not resolved at the school level.