Child Welfare & Attendance

The attendance-specific responsibilities center around monitoring and promoting student attendance. This involves maintaining accurate attendance records, tracking absences, tardiness, and early dismissals, and ensuring compliance with attendance regulations. The department collaborates with schools and families to address attendance issues, implement interventions for chronically absent students, and provide support to improve overall attendance rates. Their focus is on fostering a positive school environment, enhancing student engagement, and ensuring that students have the opportunity to succeed academically by regularly attending school.

Visit our Attendance page.

How to Report Suspected Child Maltreatment

Anyone can report suspected child abuse or neglect. Reporting abuse or neglect can protect a child and get help for a family. It may even save a child's life.

Professionals, who in the course of their work, come in contact with families and children MUST report suspicion or knowledge. A phone report must be made immediately to a "child protective agency" (Police, Sheriff, Probation, Child & Family Services) and a written report is required within 36 hours.

CPS 24-hour phone line:
209-558-3665 or 1-800-558-3665

Reporting Procedures

Initial Telephone Report

Immediately or as soon as practicable after knowing or observing suspected child abuse or neglect, a mandated reporter shall make an initial report by telephone to any police department (excluding a school district police/security department), sheriff's department, county probation department if designated by the county to receive such reports, or county welfare department. (Penal Code 11165.9, 11166)

Such reports shall be made to the following agency(ies):
Child Protective Services
251 E. Hackett Rd., Modesto
Phone: 1-800-558-3665

When the initial telephone report is made, the mandated reporter shall note the name of the official contacted, the date and time contacted, and any instructions or advice received.

Written Report

Within 36 hours of knowing or observing the information concerning the incident, the mandated reporter shall prepare and either send, fax, or electronically transmit to the appropriate agency a written follow-up report, which includes a completed California Department of Justice (DOJ) form (BCIA 8572). (Penal Code 11166, 11168)

The DOJ form may be obtained from the district office or other appropriate agencies, such as the police department, sheriff's department, or county probation or welfare department.

Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect shall include, if known: (Penal Code 11167)

• The name, business address, and telephone number of the person making the report and the capacity that makes the person a mandated reporter

• The child's name and address, present location, and, where applicable, school, grade, and class

• The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the child's parents/guardians

• The name, address, telephone number, and other relevant personal information about the person(s) who might have abused or neglected the child

• The information that gave rise to the reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect and the source(s) of that information

The mandated reporter shall make a report even if some of this information is not known or is uncertain to the mandated reporter. (Penal Code 11167)

The mandated reporter may give to an investigator from an agency investigating the case, including a licensing agency, any information relevant to an incident of child abuse or neglect or to a report made for serious emotional damage pursuant to Penal Code 11166.05. (Penal Code 11167)

Internal Reporting

The mandated reporter shall not be required to disclose the mandated reporter's identity to a supervisor, the principal, or the Superintendent or designee. (Penal Code 11166)

However, employees reporting child abuse or neglect to an appropriate agency are encouraged, but not required, to notify the principal as soon as possible after the initial telephone report to the appropriate agency. When so notified, the principal shall inform the Superintendent or designee.

The principal so notified shall provide the mandated reporter with any assistance necessary to ensure that reporting procedures are carried out in accordance with law, Board policy, and administrative regulation. At the mandated reporter's request, the principal may assist in completing and filing the necessary forms.

Reporting the information to an employer, supervisor, principal, school counselor, co-worker, or other person shall not be a substitute for making a mandated report to the appropriate agency. (Penal Code 11166)

the enrollment-related responsibilities encompass facilitating the enrollment process for students. This includes overseeing student registration, verifying residency documentation, and coordinating the enrollment of new and transferring students. The department ensures that accurate and up-to-date enrollment records are maintained, and they collaborate with schools and families to address any enrollment challenges or issues. They also play a role in managing student transfers, placements, and attendance boundaries. Overall, their goal is to ensure a smooth and efficient enrollment process while adhering to district policies and regulations.

Visit our Enrollment page. 

The Foster Youth Services responsibilities revolve around supporting the educational needs of foster youth. This involves collaborating with social services agencies, caregivers, and schools to ensure that foster youth have access to quality education and appropriate support. The department assists in enrolling foster youth in school, advocating for their educational rights, and addressing any academic, attendance, or social-emotional challenges they may face. They provide resources, services, and interventions to help foster youth succeed academically and emotionally, and they work to minimize educational disruptions that can result from changes in placement or other foster care-related transitions. Overall, their focus is on ensuring that foster youth receive a stable and nurturing educational experience within the school district.

PJUSD Foster Youth Intake Form:

Foster Youth Intake Form (note, if you download adobe reader, you can fill out this form via your web browser)

Below are helpful resources:

  Youth Crisis and Help Lines  

  Stanislaus County General Contact Information for Youth in Foster Care

2023 Foster Youth Education Law Fact Sheet (Spanish)

2023 Foster Youth Education Law Fact Sheet (English)

The Parent Handbook aims to empower parents with the information they need to support their children's education, stay informed about district policies, and collaborate effectively with school staff. It serves as a valuable resource to promote transparency, consistency, and a positive educational experience for students and their families.

Please visit the following link to be taken to the District Parent Handbook page:

District Parent Handbook 

The consequences and Intervention Matrix is a tool for administrators to respond appropriately when students have committed serious violations, per the Code of Student Conduct. This tool is designed to offer consistency at all levels across the District so that students are disciplined fairly from school to school when their behavior requires punishment beyond the classroom. The matrix does not define responses to behaviors that are handled in the classroom.

PJUSD Consequences and Interventions Matrix

PJUSD: Tabla de consecuencias e intervenciones

Please click the following link to go to our Intra/Inter District Transfer page: Intra/Inter District Transfers link.

The Youth Experiencing Homelessness services aim to break down barriers to education, provide stability, and empower homeless students to succeed academically and personally. By offering a range of support services and interventions, this initiative seeks to ensure that homelessness does not hinder a student's access to quality education and opportunities for a better future.

What  families need to know about homelessness
This helpful brochure provides information about the educational rights and supports for families experiencing homelessness, including a variety of local resources available within Stanislaus County.
- English Brochure
- Spanish Brochure

This Family Support Resources document lists a wide range of services available to assist families who are experiencing homelessness, housing instability, or other challenges.

Examples of Prohibited Conduct

Bullying is an aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived imbalance of power between individuals with the intent to cause emotional or physical harm. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social/relational and may involve a single severe act or repetition or potential repetition of a deliberate act. Bullying includes, but is not limited to, any act described in Education Code 48900(r).

Cyberbullying includes the electronic creation or transmission of harassing communications, direct threats, or other harmful texts, sounds, or images, which may be shared, sent, or posted publicly. Cyberbullying may include, but is not limited to, personal or private information that causes humiliation, false or negative information to discredit or disparage, or threats of physical harm. Cyberbullying may also include breaking into another person's electronic account or assuming that person's online identity in order to damage that person's reputation.

Examples of the types of conduct that may constitute bullying and are prohibited by the district include, but are not limited to:

1. Physical bullying: An act that inflicts harm upon a person's body or possessions, such as hitting, kicking, pinching, spitting, tripping, pushing, taking or breaking someone's possessions, or making cruel or rude hand gestures
    
2. Verbal bullying: An act that includes saying or writing hurtful things, such as teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, or threats to cause harm
    
3. Social/relational bullying: An act that harms a person's reputation or relationships, such as leaving a person out of an activity on purpose, influencing others not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors, or embarrassing someone in public
    
4. Cyberbullying: An act that occurs on electronic devices such as computers, tablets, or cell phones, such as sending demeaning or hateful text messages, direct messages or public posts on social media apps, gaming forums, or emails, spreading rumors by email or by posting on social networking sites, shaming or humiliating by allowing others to view, participate in, or share disparaging or harmful content, or posting or sharing embarrassing photos, videos, website, or fake profiles

Measures to Prevent Bullying

The Superintendent or designee shall implement measures to prevent bullying in district schools, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Developing a strategic plan for school connectedness and social skills with benchmark tracking, which may include providing regular opportunities and spaces for students to develop social skills and strengthen relationships and promoting adult support from family and school staff, peer-led programs, and partnerships with key community groups, implementing socially based educational techniques such as cooperative learning projects that can improve educational outcomes as well as peer relations, creating a supportive school environment that fosters belonging through equitable classroom management, mentoring, and peer support groups that allow students to lean on each other and learn from each other's experiences, and building social connection into health education courses including information on the consequences of social connection on physical and mental health, key risk and protective factors, and strategies for increasing social connection
    
2. Ensuring that each school establishes clear rules for student and staff conduct and implements strategies to promote a positive, supportive, and collaborative school climate
    
3. Providing information to students, through student handbooks, district and school websites and social media, and other age-appropriate means, about district and school rules related to bullying, mechanisms available for reporting incidents or threats, and the consequences for engaging in bullying
    
4. Encouraging students to notify school staff when they are being bullied or when they suspect that another student is being bullied, and providing means by which students may report threats or incidents confidentially and anonymously
    
5. Conducting an assessment of bullying incidents at each school and, if necessary, increasing supervision and security in areas where bullying most often occurs, such as playgrounds, hallways, restrooms, and cafeterias
    
6. Annually notifying district employees that, pursuant to Education Code 234.1, any school staff who witnesses an act of bullying against a student has a responsibility to immediately intervene to stop the incident when it is safe to do so

Staff Development

The Superintendent or designee shall annually make available to all certificated staff and to other employees who have regular interaction with students the California Department of Education (CDE) online training module on the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying, including the identification of bullying and cyberbullying and the implementation of strategies to address bullying.  (Education Code 32283.5)

The Superintendent or designee shall provide training to teachers and other school staff to raise their awareness about the legal obligation of the district and its employees to prevent discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying of district students. Such training shall be designed to provide staff with the skills to:

1. Discuss the diversity of the student body and school community, including their varying immigration experiences
    
2. Discuss bullying prevention strategies with students, and teach students to recognize the behavior and characteristics of bullying perpetrators and victims
    
3. Identify the signs of bullying or harassing behavior
    
4. Take immediate corrective action when bullying is observed
    
5. Report incidents to the appropriate authorities, including law enforcement in instances of criminal behavior

Information and Resources

The Superintendent or designee shall post on the district's website, in a prominent location and in a manner that is easily accessible to students and parents/guardians, information on bullying and harassment prevention which includes the following:  (Education Code 234.6)

1. The district's policy on student suicide prevention, including a reference to the policy's age appropriateness for students in grades K-6
    
2. The definition of sex discrimination and harassment as described in Education Code 230, including the rights set forth in Education Code 221.8
    
3. Title IX information included on the district's website pursuant to Education Code 221.61, and a link to the Title IX information included on CDE's website pursuant to Education Code 221.6
    
4. District policies on student sexual harassment, prevention and response to hate violence, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying, and cyberbullying
    
5. A section on social media bullying that includes all of the references described in Education Code 234.6 as possible forums for social media
    
6. A link to statewide resources, including community-based organizations, compiled by CDE pursuant to Education Code 234.5
    
7. Any additional information the Superintendent or designee deems important for preventing bullying and harassment

Student Instruction

As appropriate, the district shall provide students with instruction, in the classroom or other educational settings, that promotes social-emotional learning, effective communication and conflict resolution skills, character development, respect for cultural and individual differences, self-esteem development, assertiveness skills, digital and media literacy skills, and appropriate online behavior.

The district shall also educate students about the negative impact of bullying, discrimination, intimidation, and harassment based on actual or perceived immigration status, religious beliefs and customs, or any other individual bias or prejudice.

Students should be taught the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, how to advocate for themselves, how to help another student who is being bullied, and when to seek assistance from a trusted adult. As role models for students, staff are responsible for teaching and modeling respectful behavior and building safe and supportive learning environments, and are expected to demonstrate effective problem-solving and anger management skills.

To discourage cyberbullying, teachers may advise students to be cautious about sharing passwords, personal data, or private photos online and to consider the consequences of making negative comments about others online.

Reporting and Filing of Complaints

Any student, parent/guardian, or other individual who believes that a student has been subjected to bullying or who has witnessed bullying may report the incident to a teacher, the principal, a compliance officer, or any other available school employee.

When a report of bullying is submitted, the principal or a district compliance officer shall inform the student or parent/guardian of the right to file a formal written complaint in accordance with Administrative Regulation 1312.3 - Uniform Complaint Procedures. The student who is the alleged victim of the bullying shall be given an opportunity to describe the incident, identify witnesses who may have relevant information, and provide other evidence of bullying.

Within one business day of receiving such a report, a staff member shall notify the principal of the report, regardless of whether a uniform complaint is filed. In addition, any school employee who observes an incident of bullying involving a student shall, within one business day, report such observation to the principal or a district compliance officer, regardless of whether the alleged victim files a complaint.

Within two business days of receiving a report of bullying, the principal shall notify the district compliance officer identified in Administrative Regulation 1312.3.

Any individuals with information about cyberbullying activity shall save and print any electronic or digital messages that they feel constitute cyberbullying and shall notify a teacher, the principal, or other employee so that the matter may be investigated. When an investigation concludes that a student used a social networking site or service to bully or harass another student, the Superintendent or designee may report the cyberbullying to the social media platform and may request the material be removed.

Discipline/Corrective Actions

Corrective actions for a student who commits an act of bullying of any type may include counseling, behavioral intervention, and education, and, if the behavior is severe or pervasive as defined in Education Code 48900, may include suspension or expulsion in accordance with district policies and regulations.

When a student has been suspended, or other means of correction have been implemented against the student, for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, the principal or designee shall engage both the victim and perpetrator in a restorative justice practice suitable to the needs of the students. The principal or designee shall also require the perpetrator to engage in a culturally sensitive program that promotes racial justice and equity and combats racism and ignorance and shall regularly check on the victim to ensure that the victim is not in danger of suffering from any long-lasting mental health issues.  (Education Code 48900.5)

When appropriate based on the severity or pervasiveness of the bullying, the Superintendent or designee shall notify the parents/guardians of victims and perpetrators and may contact law enforcement.

Support Services

The Superintendent, principal, or designee may refer a victim, witness, perpetrator, or other student affected by an act of bullying to a school counselor, school psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, school nurse, or other school support service personnel for case management, counseling, and/or participation in a restorative justice program as appropriate.  (Education Code 48900.9)

If any student involved in bullying exhibits warning signs of suicidal thought or intention or of intent to harm another person, the Superintendent or designee shall, as appropriate, implement district intervention protocols which may include, but are not limited to, referral to district or community mental health services, other health professionals, and/or law enforcement, in accordance with Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 5141.52 - Suicide Prevention.