BP3470 Business and Non-Instructional Operations Philosophy The Central County Occupational Center maintains a range of programs to enrich the curriculum choices available to youths from the participating districts. As one measure of establishing high standards, a full program of instruction is offered 174 calendar days during the regular school year. High school students are transported twice daily to the Center and returned to their home high schools. Certificated teachers, supported by trained staff, lead instruction in classrooms, laboratories and shops. To assure maximum participation by students enrolled at the Center, the Center staff works closely with each district's staff to coordinate school year calendars. Every reasonable effort is made to accommodate varying high school attendance calendars among the 30+ high schools. Particularly challenging is the accommodating of "student-free" days when the districts or individual high schools schedule activities associated with staff development and restructuring. Center staff provides make-up learning opportunities for students absent from their occupational training. To maintain fiscal stability, these absences due to district "student-free" days are recorded as excused for purposes of apportionment. The Education Code empowers districts to so record, and there is no Code prohibition from this practice for Regional Occupational Centers and Programs. Policy Central County Occupational Center staff, teachers, administrators, and business office personnel, are authorized to mark a student as an excused absence on those days when there is a home school district-wide or home high school student-free day. Center managers are to secure documentation from the district and/or high school documenting the student-free day. This documentation is to be forwarded to the attendance accounting unit in the business office. Such documentation will be kept on file for review in the annual audit. Legal Reference: Education Code 46010 46201 Adopted: 1/27/93 Revised: 9/10/97