Riverside Unified officials described a new attendance‑recovery program Thursday based on a state law enacted in July 2025 that allows students to make up missed instructional time outside the regular school day.
District presenters said the program is voluntary and must be standards‑aligned and non‑punitive. Under the rules presented, a single teacher may serve up to 20 students (10 students per teacher for transitional kindergarten), and participants may recover up to 10 days of missed instruction. The program can be offered as before‑ or after‑school sessions, weekend classes or as part of expanded summer offerings; staff said some recovery could also align with the district’s summer programs.
Staff emphasized the program’s aim to mitigate chronic absenteeism, which research and district data show is strongly associated with poorer long‑term academic outcomes. Trustees heard that students with chronic absence lagged substantially behind their peers in ELA, math and science metrics on district measures. Officials said the program could also raise Average Daily Attendance (ADA) and related funding if students take part.
Board members asked how the district would guard against manipulative uses of the program (for example, students making up time primarily to regain eligibility for extracurriculars) and how attendance coding errors would be audited. District staff said they will monitor participation, require parent engagement for voluntary sign‑up, and use attendance‑data checks and existing student‑services processes to ensure accuracy. Staff also said they would start with targeted school sites and scale up based on results and staffing capacity.
Trustees asked staff to include pilot‑site selection criteria and tracking measures when they return with a full implementation plan.