• Closed Campus 

    Columbia Middle School, in accordance with state law and district policy, has a closed campus. 

    • Students may not leave campus without permission from the office from the time of their arrival on campus through the dismissal bell. 
    • Students who come to school after the start of school must report to the office before going to any class.
    • All visitors, including parents and volunteers, must check in with the office and obtain a visitor’s badge before entering the campus. 
    • Parents must come to the office to sign their student out if they are taking him/her off campus for any reason. Items (such as lunches, money, special projects, etc.) that need to be delivered to students by a parent during school hours must be done through the office. Parents may not go directly to the classroom or onto the school grounds without checking into the office. 
    • Students may not bring visitors, such as friends or relatives, to school or have them visit them on campus. 

    Absences 

    When a student returns to school after being absent, the student must go to the main office as soon as he/she returns to school to get an "Admit To Class" slip. This slip is to be initialed by teachers throughout the day. Students are to get an admit slip BEFORE the first school bell rings in the morning. 

    Parents or guardians must submit a note or call the school office explaining why their student was absent. (408) 522-8247 x 2004 

    A student's grades can be affected by his/her absence if work is not completed. It is a joint responsibility of student-teacher-parent to make immediate plans to complete missed school work. Students may also be kept from field trips should they accumulate too many absences. (See Field Trips).

    Supervised Attendance 

    Parent Excused Absences: Parents will be provided the courtesy of excusing no more than 10 absences throughout the school year. A Supervised Attendance letter will be sent to parents/guardians once the limit is met. 

    Any additional absences following supervised attendance that do not meet the criteria below will activate the truancy/SARB process.

    Excused Absences: 

    Absences shall be considered excused under the following circumstances:

    • Upon advance written request by parent/guardian and the approval of the principal or designee, for justifiable personal reasons

    • The student is absent due to illness and a physician’s note verifies that the date(s) of the absence(s) was/were due to the illness (see details below about timelines for submitting medical documentation). 

    • The student is absent due to a religious holiday, as defined by the California Education Code

    • The student is absent due to death in the family. In general, five days of absence will be excused for the death of an immediate family member (parent, sibling, grandparent) and three days will be excused for the death of an extended family member (aunt or uncle, cousin, etc.). The school administrator may find it appropriate to make additional considerations due to absences of this type.

    • Absences due to medical or dental visits that cannot be scheduled at a time other than during the school day. A note from the physician regarding the appointment will serve as documentation to excuse the absence. 

    • The student is absent due to a court appearance. A letter or note signed by an official of the court shall serve as documentation to excuse the absence. 

    A student absent from school for any of the above excused reasons shall be allowed to complete all assignments and tests missed during the absence that are reasonably provided and, upon satisfactory completion, shall be given full credit. The teacher of any class from which a student is absent shall determine what assignments the student shall make up and in what period of time the student shall complete such assignments. The tests and assignments shall be reasonably equivalent to, but not necessarily identical to, the tests and assignments that the student missed during the absence.

    Tardy Policy 

    1. 1st or 2nd Tardy is handled in the classroom by the teacher. This may include a phone call home or class intervention.

    2. Administrators will run a bi-weekly attendance report to look specifically at tardies and send an automated call home informing parents the child has 5 or more tardies. 

    3. Excessive tardy letters to be sent home 

    • 1st letter at 20 tardies 

    • 2nd letter at 30 tardies 

    • 3rd letter at 40 tardies.This letter also prompts a meeting with the site administrator or administrator designee. 

     4. Students who persist with excessive tardies will follow progressive discipline and may be removed from end-of-the-year activities. 

    SARB Referral 

    Parents will be notified by letter if their student is chronically absent from school. Continued absences, truancies, and tardiness will be addressed by parent conference and may be referred to the School Attendance Review Board. S.A.R.B. is a cooperative effort to help students having attendance problems. It is a process to divert students from the juvenile justice system by providing guidance. 

    School Truancy (SARB) policy 

    ● The 1st letter sent home after 3 full day unexcused absences or 18 periods of unexcused absences. 

    ● The 2nd letter sent home after 6 full day unexcused absences or 36 periods of unexcused absences. A parent meeting must be held with the school’s administrator or administrative designee to develop an action plan &/or attendance contract. This also prompts supervised attendance. 

    ● The 3rd letter sent home at 10 full day unexcused absences or 60 periods of unexcused absences. 

    ● 15 full day unexcused absences or 90 periods of absences prompts the SARB process. 

    Excusing Students for Appointments 

    Please make doctor/dentist appointments when school is not in session. When a student has to leave during class time, it creates an interruption in the classroom and impacts the education of all students in the room. If it is necessary to take a student out of school, send a note to the office in the morning. Pleasde include the class and the time when the student will be leaving.

    Homework Request Policy 

    Parents may request homework through the office for a student who will be out ill for 3 or more days. If a student is to be out for an extended absence, the parent should contact the office as soon as possible with information about the length of absence, reason, and request for work. The office staff will complete "homework request" forms and place each in the appropriate teacher's box. Teachers will respond by 2:00 p.m. on the NEXT work day, enclosing the appropriate homework assignment to cover the anticipated days of absence. In addition, parents are free to contact teachers via email for homework requests. 

    Phone Messages 

    Phone calls, other than emergencies, may be made in the office after school. Social reasons are not emergencies. Students may be refused usage of the school telephone during class time and/or between classes. 

    Please note, due to the volume of requests, the CMS office cannot give messages to students about day-to-day items (i.e. rides home, pick-up times, etc.) and can only convey emergency messages.