SIMI VALLEY : Schools to Review Attendance Policy
Simi Valley Unified School District’s new attendance policy will be reviewed for legality after some parents objected to requiring a doctor’s note after 12 absences for illness in one school year.
After approving the new policy in January, the school board again reviewed the code Tuesday night because some parents complained that it could pose a financial hardship to some, said Leslie Crunelle, director of secondary education and curriculum.
No opponents showed up at the meeting, but Royal High School attendance clerk Donna Diederich came to support the tougher standards. She said some parents keep students out for frivolous reasons.
“It holds people responsible for getting their children to school,” Diederich said.
However, school board members said they weren’t certain that the policy would hold up under scrutiny. Under guidelines from the state Department of Education, a parent’s word is all that is needed to verify illness.
The board also wants the legal review to focus on whether schools can require parents to take their children to doctors.
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