Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School

To Report an Absence, Call: (928)-773-4069

Punctual and regular attendance is very important to your child’s success in school. Regular attendance is one way to make success for each child a reality. All FUSD schools are required by law to keep an exact record of reasons for absences. If your child must be absent, please call the Kinsey Absence Reporting Line, 928-773-4069 before 7:50 a.m. Please give the following information: Your name/relationship to child; Your child’s first and last name; Your child’s teacher and grade-level; The reason for the absence.

School attendance is mandatory by law. Students may be excused for the following reasons: Medical provider excuse, death in the family, family emergency, religious commitment, diagnostic testing, school-sponsored activities, and extenuating circumstances or parental petitioned vacations agreed to by the school administration. Extended absences due to medical conditions must be reported to the school nurse at the student’s home school. Unexcused absences must be reported as required by state law. In the interest of your child’s health and safety, it is important that we have up to date information about: 

• Parent/guardian’s name, home address and a working telephone/cell number. 
• The school office must have at least one working phone number on-file at all times along with the name and phone of at least one additional adult person who we can contact in case of emergency.

Things to Know About Attendance - IT MATTERS!

We need your help getting your student to school because:

• Elementary attendance patterns can follow students into high school.
• Chronic absences (10 or more in a year) is the first warning sign of an increased risk of dropping out.
• Too many absences lead to a higher risk for falling considerably behind their peers.
• The more they are at school the more they will learn!
• If your child is having trouble with wanting to come to school, please let your child's teacher or office know right away so we can help

We only allow early student sign-out until 2:10 pm on Monday - Thursday & before 11 am on Fridays. Early sign-out after these times is too disruptive to preparing for the end of the day. If you need to pick up your student early, please arrive before these deadlines. 

If you need to update the way your student is going home (i.e. Go to parent pick-up instead of riding the bus), please call the front office before 2:10 pm (M-Th) or 11:15 am (F) at 928-773-4060. Messages sent to teachers are not gauranteed to be read before the end of the school day. Without confirmation to the front office, we have to send your student home the same way as usual. 

A child between the ages of six (6) and sixteen (16) is required to attend school during the school's hours. 

The student's parent/legal guardian is required to notify the school regarding the student's absence. 

The District requires the parent or legal guardian to provide at least one telephone number, if available. 

The District requires that the telephone number, if available, be given at the time of enrollment of the student in school and that the school of enrollment be promptly notified of any change in the telephone number. The student's school shall make a reasonable effort to promptly notify the student's parent or other custodial adult by telephone that their student is absent without excuse or without proper notice.

FUSD will first post notifications of a Delayed Start or School Cancelation on the district website and all of our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) when a decision is made.  Phone calls, e-mails, and text messages to FUSD parents and team members will be sent at 6:00 AM in the event of a schedule change.

Delayed Start - School starts two hours later than the regular start time at each building. Morning buses run two hours later than normal on delayed start days. Afternoon dismissal time and school bus runs will be the same as a regular day. If a Delayed Start occurs on a scheduled Early Release Day (Fridays), the early release is canceled.  Morning FUSD Preschool classes, if held at your school, will be canceled when a two-hour delay is in effect. We ask for your cooperation to not bring your students to school early on Delayed Start Days unless they are already scheduled to attend FACTS. 

School Cancelation - All classes and school activities are canceled for students. In the event school is canceled, snow make-up days have been designated on the school calendar.

Alternative schedules were developed by FUSD staff to respond to winter weather conditions and plan for the safety of students and staff traveling to and from school.  Additional factors considered in making the decision to delay or cancel school include weather forecasts, road conditions and closures, impact on instruction and scheduled activities, timelines for mobilizing communication, and changing bus routes. 

For everyone's safety, students are expected to follow the school bus safety rules. Choosing to engage in unacceptable behavior will result in the denial of transportation privileges. Each student who rides the school bus is entitled to a safe, comfortable trip to and from school. Students must be respectful to the driver and all other riders. Misbehavior on a school bus is distracting to the driver and endangers all the passengers inside the bus and the traffic outside the bus. Parents/legal guardians will be contacted regarding unacceptable behavior.  A Code of Conduct form may be found on the FUSD website under the transportation department.

The District may provide transportation to all eligible students as that term is defined in Arizona law. This may include transportation for: 

1. K-8 students whose place of residence within the District is more than one mile from the school of attendance
2. High school students whose place of residence within the District is more than one and one-half miles from the school of attendance; 
3. Students admitted via open enrollment policies who may be eligible for transportation under state or federal law. 
4. (Required) Students with disabilities whose Individual Education Plans include transportation as a related service provided under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. 
5. (Required) Homeless students who are entitled to transportation under the McKinney-Vento Act. Students are expected to meet the standards of behavior as outlined by the District while on buses/District vehicles and in the bus loading and unloading process. Students that fail to meet these standards may have transportation privileges revoked. Students are prohibited from harassing, intimidating, and bullying other pupils on school buses/District vehicles and at school bus stops. Students may be transported only in District-approved vehicles during school or school sponsored events, unless otherwise approved by the Superintendent.

Kindergarten Students 

This notice is to remind you that the FUSD Transportation Department has implemented a departmental policy that states: There must be a parent or responsible party designated in writing by the parent or guardian at the bus stop to meet the bus for all kindergarten students. Siblings or friends 1st grade and above are acceptable escorts if the parent or guardian has made that designation in writing and provides the letter to the driver. If a responsible party is not at the bus stop, the student will be returned to the school. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience that this may cause. In cases where there are numerous incidents of having to return the student to the school, it may result in denial of student’s bus riding privilege for 5 days.