"Compulsory Attendance Laws require that parents send their children to school."

The law further states that students must attend every scheduled session of every class, even if failure is imminent. The law applies to all students until 18 years of age. Once a student attains the age of 18 years they become a guest and can be removed from enrollment if academic progress, attendance or behavior are not acceptable.

Parents/Guardians must report all absences within 72 hours by:

• having the student bring a signed note (including phone number) from a parent/guardian to the attendance office explaining the reason for the absence, or
• calling the attendance office at 619-262-0763, ext. 2084.

Whole day absences not cleared within 72 hours will be recorded as truancies and cannot be cleared after that time.

Excused absences are illness, special medical conditions or medical appointments that cannot be scheduled at other times, the death of an immediate family member, personal religious holidays, and approved school functions.

Period absences may be cleared ahead of time through the use of an off campus pass or blue slip from the attendance office. It is the student's responsibility to see that those absences are cleared.

Truancy is any absence of 30 minutes or more that remains unexcused after 72 hours. Saturday school and other disciplinary actions will be assigned to truant students.

Attendance Office Phone#  (619) 262-0763 ext. 2084 
Parents, please call within 72 hours of absence.

Contract of Independent Study (CIS) - is used to excuse the absences for students who will miss 5 to 20 days for legitimate reasons. The parent and student must notify the Attendance Office of their intentions a minimum of 5 school days prior to the leave date. All paperwork must be completed and signed by the appropriate people prior to the leave date. The CIS is not available to Special Education students unless the IEP specially provides for participation in a CIS. A CIS may be declined to a student who does not have satisfactory academic and citizenship grades and/or a good attendance record.

Tardiness - Students will be at school and in classroom on time. The importance of punctuality and it's carry-over value to college, the workplace, and life in general, cannot be emphasized enough. Recognizing this, Morse will promote student success by adhering to a tardy policy that includes three components: warning bells, tardy sweep/passes, and a classroom tardy procedure.

- Warning Bells ring for a half-second two minutes prior to the tardy bell and alerts all students to immediately go to class.

- Tardy sweeps will be conducted on a regular basis. Students who are tardy will be sent to the cafeteria to receive a tardy pass.