Attendance Recovery (AR) At a Glance¶

Senate Bill (SB) 153 (Chapter 38, Statutes of 2024), as amended by SB 176 (Chapter 998, Statutes of 2024), established the Attendance Recovery (AR) program to mitigate the impact of chronic absenteeism and support LEA funding through Average Daily Attendance (ADA).

The AR program allows LEAs to offer optional instructional sessions outside the regular school day for students in grades TK–12 to recover lost attendance. Students who meet required participation criteria may generate ADA, up to defined limits.

File Type and Submission¶

File Name: Student Absence Summary (STAS)
Submission Level: School and LEA level
Submission Window: End-of-Year (EOY)
Collection Type: Student-level

A new data element, Attendance Recovery Days, is collected through the STAS file beginning in the 2025–26 academic year. All other STAS fields remain unchanged, and absence data should not be modified based on AR participation.

Student Eligibility¶

Students may be reported with Attendance Recovery (AR) Days if they meet the following criteria:

Enrolled in grades TK–12
Participated in an LEA-offered Attendance Recovery program
Met the minimum instructional time requirements to constitute a full AR day
Have recorded absences (excused or unexcused) within the LEA

Important:

AR participation is optional for LEAs and students
AR days may be earned before or after absences occur, including during summer
AR participation does not need to overlap with enrollment dates
Out-of-school suspension days are not eligible for recovery

Key Data Element¶

Attendance Recovery Days (Field 13.24)¶

Total number of days a student earned through participation in an AR program during the Academic Year (July 1 – June 30)
Represents days where the student met the minimum day minute requirement

Reporting Rules:

Valid values: 0–10 (integer only)
Cannot exceed:
10 days, or
The student’s total absences (excused + unexcused), whichever is less
Must be reported only at schools where the student had absences
For multi-school enrollment within an LEA:
AR days must not exceed absences at each school
Total AR days across the LEA must not exceed 10

Additional Guidance:

Students may “bank” AR days prior to accruing absences
AR days earned after the school year but before June 30 apply to that fiscal year
LEAs must maintain detailed attendance time records for audit purposes, but only report total AR days to CALPADS

Data Reporting Rules¶

AR data is reported annually, not per session
LEAs must ensure AR days align with documented participation hours
Absence counts in STAS must remain unchanged and independent of AR reporting
AR days are used for state-level calculations, including an alternate chronic absenteeism rate

Attendance Recovery (AR) Reporting Scenarios¶

Scenario	Result
LEA A: The student... - Earns 5 AR days during the summer at LEA A, then… - Enrolls in a school in LEA A where the AR days were earned, then… - Has 5 absences during the school year while enrolled at the school in LEA A	LEA A reports 5 AR days on the STAS for the student at the school where they were enrolled.
LEA A: The student... - Earns 5 AR days during the summer at LEA A, then… - Transfers to LEA B LEA B: The student... - Enrolls in a school in LEA B and has 5 absences during the school year	LEA A does not report any AR days because the student did not accrue any absences at LEA A. LEA B does not report any AR days because the student did not earn any AR days at LEA B.
LEA A: The student… - Earns 5 AR days during the summer at a program in LEA A, then… - Enrolls in a school in LEA A, and is absent 2 days, then… - Transfers to LEA B LEA B: The student… - Is absent 3 days at a school in LEA B - Does not earn any AR days while attending the school in LEA B	LEA A reports 2 AR days for the student at the school where the student was enrolled. The 3 remaining AR days cannot be reported because the student only had 2 absences. LEA B has no AR days to report because the student did not earn any AR days at LEA B.
LEA A: The student… - Earns 5 AR days during the summer at a program in LEA A, then… - Enrolls in a school in LEA A and is absent 5 days, then… - Transfers to LEA B LEA B: The student… - Is absent 10 days at a school in LEA B… - Earns 10 AR days while attending the school in LEA B	LEA A reports 5 AR days because the student earned 5 AR days and had 5 absences. LEA B reports 10 AR days because the student earned 10 AR days and had 10 absences.
LEA A: The student... - Enrolls in an AR program at LEA A during the summer and earns 10 AR days, then… - Enrolls in three different schools within LEA A: - School A: 5 absences - School B: 5 absences - School C: 5 absences	LEA A can report up to 10 AR days total across all schools. The LEA may distribute AR days across schools (e.g., 3, 3, 4), but cannot exceed 5 per school (based on absences) or 10 total per LEA. A CDD will trigger if more than 10 AR days are reported.

Note

A student can generate up to 10 AR days per LEA, but may exceed 10 AR days across multiple LEAs. Student Information System (SIS) vendors may provide automation for allocating AR days across schools. LEAs should consult their SIS vendor for configuration options.

Validations and Error Handling¶

The following validations apply to the Attendance Recovery Days field:

Invalid Value: Must be between 0 and 10
Exceeds School Absences: Cannot exceed total absences at the school
Exceeds LEA Absences: Cannot exceed total absences across the LEA

All validation errors related to AR days are fatal and must be resolved prior to certification.

Certification Report¶

Aggregate Report: 14.1 – Student Absenteeism – Count

Includes: New: Total Attendance Recovery Days

Supporting Report: 14.2 – Student Absences – Student List

Displays: Attendance Recovery Days earned per student

Additional Program Considerations¶

AR program participation supports the calculation of an alternate chronic absenteeism rate, which will be published by the CDE beginning in late 2026
AR data does not impact the 2026 California School Dashboard indicator
LEAs must separately submit ADA earned through AR programs via the Principal Apportionment Data Collection (PADC) Web Application

Attendance Recovery (AR) Checklist¶

Here is a useful checklist LEAs may use to ensure proper collection of Attendance Recovery data.

Attendance Recovery Checklist

1. Program Readiness (Policy & Scope)
- [ ] Confirm the LEA has chosen to operate an Attendance Recovery (AR) program (AR is optional).  
- [ ] Ensure AR is offered only to TK–12 students.  
- [ ] Verify AR sessions are held outside the regularly scheduled school day and meet statutory requirements.  
- [ ] Ensure AR sessions meet the minimum day minutes requirement for the student’s grade level and/or school setting, per EC Section 46211(e).  

2. Local Data Collection & Recordkeeping
- [ ] Track total AR program attendance hours for each student to determine whether statutory time requirements are met.  
- [ ] Maintain local records of AR attendance for audit purposes.  
- [ ] Allow for AR participation before absences occur, including participation during the summer prior to the school year.  

3. Attendance Recovery Day Rules (Business Logic)
- [ ] Calculate Attendance Recovery Days based on statute-defined requirements, not partial attendance.  
- [ ] Ensure the number of AR days reported for a student:
  - does not exceed 10 days, or  
  - does not exceed the number of absences the student accrued (whichever is less).  
- [ ] Count only excused and unexcused absences when applying AR limits.  
- [ ] Do not allow absences due to out-of-school suspensions to be recovered through AR.  
- [ ] Attribute AR days only to:
  - schools where the student had absences, and  
  - the LEA where the AR days were earned.  

4. CALPADS Reporting – STAS File
- [ ] Report AR data beginning in 2025–26 via the Student Absence Summary (STAS) file.  
- [ ] Populate the new STAS field:  
  **Field 13.24 – Attendance Recovery Days**  
- [ ] Report only the number of AR days earned (not hours).  
- [ ] Ensure all other STAS fields remain unchanged; do not adjust absence counts based on AR participation.  

5. CALPADS Validation Awareness
- [ ] Confirm Attendance Recovery Days are reported as an integer between 0 and 10.  
- [ ] Verify Attendance Recovery Days:
  - are ≤ total absences at the school, and  
  - are ≤ total absences within the LEA.  
- [ ] Resolve any fatal errors, data discrepancies (DDs), or certification data discrepancies (CDDs) related to AR days.  

6. Certification & Review
- [ ] Review Report 14.1 – Student Absenteeism – Count, which includes the new column **Total Attendance Recovery Days**.  
- [ ] Use Report 14.2 – Student Absences – Student List to review AR days at the student level.  
- [ ] Certify AR data as part of the 2025–26 End-of-Year (EOY) CALPADS submission.