Multiple ditch days at SJHHS have already occurred, with November 10, 2025 being one of the most notable. An average school day consists of 153 students absent. On November 10th there were 596 absentees in the schools data system, reaching over 20% of the student body.
Attendance office staff members Janie Vandygrift and Misti Blodgett work diligently together to encode and manage SJHHS’s hefty attendance record. With the school population nearly reaching 3,000 students Blodgett and Vandygrift have their work cut out for them.
For the first semester Vandygrift and Blodgett split up attendance calls: organizing from early outs and all day calls. Depending on the day there are different trends in attendance, highly based on circumstance such as late start on Mondays, or events such as pep rallies, sports events, and the infamous senior ditch days.
“Miss Misty handles all day calls, and then I handle and process the early outs. And so the difference between the two phone numbers is, she goes to one email, and then I go to the other one,” said Vandygrift.
One notable event was on January 30, 2026, where students planned a peaceful walk out in protest of ICE. A total of 466 students were absent and 245 tardy to class.
Events like these bring a trend for excused and unexcused absences which are chosen based on district guidelines. Excused absences include valid personal reasoning. According to Capistrano Unified School District, “an illness, medical or dental need (a doctor’s note may be required)…the funeral of an immediate family member,” or other justifiable personal reasoning meets the criteria for an excused absence.
Excused or not, it negatively impacts the school’s funding. According to the California Department of Education, California public schools base their financial system on the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF uses criteria such as attendance. Specifically they measure average daily attendance (ADA) as well as student enrollment.
“We get money for attendance. So we actually get audited to make sure our attendance records are valid and up to date,” said Blodgett.
Every absence makes a difference. The LCFF provides base grants for every student, and an additional emphasis on funding for high needs students (low income, English learning, etc). Showing up to school doesn’t just affect your grade or attendance record, it negatively impacts the people around you.
Click here for more information of the LCFF.
Click here for more information on chronic absenteeism.
