High school attendance policies fail non-school athletes

I go to Carlmont High School, part of the Sequoia Union High School District, where  excused absence categories are based on California Education Code 48205. This state law requires schools to excuse absences for reasons such as illness, medical appointments, religious observances and civic engagement, as well as for “justifiable personal reasons,” provided the request is made by a parent or guardian and approved by a principal or a designated staff member. It also allows absences to be authorized at the discretion of school administrators, a flexibility the district uses in its attendance handbook by including “school  sports” as a separate category of permitted absences.

As such, school-sponsored athletic absences can be recognized as their own category and easily cleared. However, competitive athletics outside of school programs are nowhere referenced in either the Carlmont policy or the district handbook. Public high schools like Carlmont naturally can only support so many sports within the limited space available on campus, which leaves many less traditional athletes, including my fellow equestrians, fencers, climbers, rowers and ice skaters, without a place in the school’s athletic structure. As a result, students who pursue their sport of choice through external clubs or organizations are often left uncertain about whether their absences for competitions will be recognized or penalized. The  same situation applies to students who participate in serious academic or extracurricular competitions outside of school, such as elite debate tournaments, math competitions or science fairs. Nowhere in the school or district attendance policies is there a clear path for students whose commitments are legitimate, competitive and often college-relevant, but not directly sponsored by the school.

When students who, like me, leave campus for legitimate competitions but the absences remain unexcused, they are placed in the same category as students who simply skip class and face stern consequences designed for chronic absenteeism.

Accumulating unexcused absences may lead to being labeled truant, which would result in parent notifications, intervention meetings and, if the pattern continues, a referral to the district’s Student Attendance Review Board. The ramifications can also follow us into the classroom. Schools are required by the aforementioned Ed Code 48205 to allow students to make up missed assignments and tests for full credit within a reasonable period of time for excused  absences. Yet that protection is not guaranteed for unexcused absences, meaning students like me can risk zeros in the gradebook for missing class to attend outside competitions not recognized by Carlmont. So, every time a horseback-riding event comes around in which I would have to miss a day or two to compete, my parents and I are forced to weigh two  uncomfortable options: tell the attendance office the truth about where I am going, or simply call me in sick.

It is reasonable that Carlmont and many other schools focus on the well-established systems for school-sport absences. Not only would it be unfair to promote school athletics and then penalize students for participating in them, but school sports also benefit the institution itself: they bring in crowds, generate revenue and build community pride.

Concerns about expanding the attendance policy are also understandable. California public school funding is tied in part to Average Daily Attendance, meaning that additional absences protected by modified attendance guidelines could affect the financial support on which districts rely. But students who are driven in extracurriculars outside of school still bring value back to their campus communities. A  student competing in a national equestrian show, for example, may not be physically present in class that day, but they are still representing the ambition, discipline and achievement schools take pride in encouraging. As long as students are making up the work assigned while they were gone, schools should recognize that success outside the classroom can still reflect positively on the institution, even if the subsequent absences come at a small financial or logistical cost.

Examples of successful flexible attendance models already exist locally, including at Palo Alto High School. Paly’s Prior Approved Absence Form allows students to request excused  absences for “special circumstances,” explicitly including non-Paly competitions such as sports, fine arts, debate and other academic competitions. Students must complete the process 24 hours in advance, receive teacher signatures, list missed assignments and obtain  administrative approval, thereby creating a transparent path for students to pursue serious outside commitments without encouraging dishonesty or jeopardizing their ability to maintain the high academic standards associated with the school.

A more accommodating policy can open the door for more students to seize opportunities they have worked years to earn without having to switch to expensive online schooling or worry about tarnishing their academic record. Although I genuinely enjoy my time on campus, I would appreciate being afforded the same flexibility already given to students whose athletic  achievements happen to fit more neatly within the school’s existing structure.

Maddie Shoop-Gardner is a junior at Carlmont High School in Belmont. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.