Legal Question in Education Law in California

My daughter has had 5 excused absences due to illness (2) & orthodontic appointments (3). In all cases she has never missed the entire day of school. Just 1 or 2 periods. The school district is requiring we provided a doctors or dentist note for any future absences. Do we have to comply with this request? If we incur a fee for obtaining a doctors note for illness is the school district liable for reimbursement?


Asked on 12/01/10, 1:33 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

The school district loses revenues when your child is not in school. Therefore they are entitled to require proof of excused absences.

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Answered on 12/06/10, 3:06 pm
Andrew Harrell W. Andrew Harrell, Attorney at Law

I do not believe that a school loses revenue for a student merely missing a single period. Furthermore, I cannot imagine how a physician's note would remedy this problem of lost revenue. It seems to be the district's idea of a deterrent for absences. (If the district has a problem with absences, then they need to explore the underlying reasons and address them.) I recommend that you contact your school board member and explain to him/her the unnecessary burden of obtain an official "excuse" for a non-frivolous medically-related absence. If, indeed, a charge is assessed for such a "note," you may wish to seek reimbursement. One obvious solution may be to get a blanket note since there are a series of scheduled orthodontics appointment, and the dentist can simply say this in the note, and give dates.

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Answered on 12/07/10, 9:31 am


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