Mingus Union
High School District #4

Frequently Asked Questions

Need to know in a hurry? Look here for answers to the questions we hear most often. If we haven’t addressed your question here, give us a call. For detailed information regarding school policy, please refer to our student handbook.


What do I do if my child will be absent?

Parents and students are responsible for school attendance. If your child must be absent, we ask you to call our 24-hour attendance line at (928) 639-0744 to report your child’s absence. Please let us know why your child is missing school, so we are able to determine if it will be an excused or unexcused absence.

Excused Absences:

  • Short-term personal illness
  • Family emergency or death
  • Professional appointment
  • Court subpoena
  • Pre-planned family trip—absences must be prearranged a minimum of two weeks prior to the absences. The student is responsible for obtaining a petition for absence form from the attendance office, obtaining teacher signatures, assignments, and administrative approval. These absences count toward the seven absences allowed per class.
  • Long-term illness—four or more days verified by medically qualified individual in written form

Unexcused Absences:

  • Any absence from school including any single period absence from any class/activity for which the student is normally scheduled
  • Out of school suspension
  • Missing the bus
  • Oversleeping
  • Oversleeping as a result of having to work late
  • Vehicle difficulty/running out of gas
  • Not being able to find shoes/backpack, etc.
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Does the school provide lockers?

Lockers are available to students through the Student Council for a fee. We do not allow students to share lockers. Students are responsible for personal property, locks, and lockers. The administration reserves the right to search a locker if we feel there is reasonable cause to suspect items that endanger the health or safety of students.

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My child needs to take medication daily. How do I proceed?

Parents should contact the school nurse at (928) 649-4441 regarding any prescription medication their student must take. MUHS has a form that we require a parent to fill out. We also require a copy of the doctor's prescription. We do not allow students who are ill or injured to leave campus without parent notification, and they must sign out or be signed out by their parent or qualified contact.

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Where is the lost and found?

Check the Attendance Office for lost articles. We do not assume responsibility for lost or damaged personal property.

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Is bussing available?

We do offer bussing for students. We ask students to adhere to the following rules:

  • Students must comply with requests of the bus driver who has complete authority over the bus and its passengers.
  • Students must refrain from loud talking or causing any sort of disturbance.
  • Students must keep themselves and all articles inside the bus at all times.
  • We do not provide bus service for “early bird” classes.
  • Buses do not leave the paved roadways.

Students will lose bus privileges if they do not follow the bus rules.

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Can my child bring a cell phone to school?

Students must have all electronic devices (an electronic device is a device that is capable of emitting an audible signal, vibrates, displays a message, or otherwise summons or delivers a communication to the possessor) turned off and out of sight from the time the first bell rings until school is dismissed. Students may have their phones turned on during lunch period.

Consequences for violating the restriction on electronic devices include confiscation of the device. Only parents/guardians may retrieve the device at the end of the day from the High School office. Repeated offenses would carry with them detention, parent conference, and suspension. Please see the cell phone policy in the Student Handbook. 

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What is the dress code?

We believe students should be dressed appropriately for school to help ensure a positive and focused learning environment. We will ask students who do not follow the dress code to change into school issued clothing for the remainder of the school day. The dress code includes but is not limited to the following:

  • Shirts, tops, and blouses must cover the shoulders. We do not allow cleavage to show at any time. Shirts must be long enough to extend below the top of the bottom garment at all times. (No bare midriff or lower back.)
  • We do not allow any article of clothing endorsing or implying gang affiliation or the use of illegal substances, containing ethnic or gender slurs, or having profane, violent, inhumane, or sexual connotations.
  • All skirts, dresses, and skorts must be long enough to extend at least three inches past the fingertips when in a normal standing position. Shorts must meet or extend past the fingertips when the student is in a normal standing position.
  • We do not allow sagging pants or clothing that might expose undergarments. We do not allow jewelry, apparel, or accessories such as chains, spiked jewelry, and excessively long belts. We ask students to wear shoes at all times. We do not allow students to wear house slippers at any time.
  • Clothing must be in good repair. We do not allow clothing with holes, frays, tears (fashion-designed or otherwise) above the knee.
  • We do not allow students to wear sunglasses, hairnets, stocking caps, baseball caps, bandanas, or western hats in the classrooms or school offices.
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Where does my child get an ID card?

We will issue ID cards at registration. We ask students to carry it with them at all times. Replacement cards cost $5.00 each.

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Is there open campus for lunch?

Mingus Union High School is a closed campus for sophomores and freshmen during lunch unless a parent/guardian comes to the school and signs the student out of school or prior arrangements have been made through the attendance office. Seniors and juniors must present their school ID in order to leave campus for lunch. Students late to class may have off campus privileges revoked as a disciplinary measure. See the Student Handbook for details.

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Can my child drive to school?

Yes. Students who drive to school need to have a valid driver’s license and vehicle insurance, and they need to register their vehicle with the school. Students must display a current registration decal on the driver’s side windshield. We require a $75.00 fee to park on school grounds. We do not allow students to trade, sell, or loan their parking spaces.

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Where can my student park if he/she doesn't have a parking pass?

There is a parking lot available for students with a valid driver's license. The charge is $1 per day, and students need to check in with the parking attendant at the time they arrive in the lot.

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Can my child ride a skateboard to school?

We do not permit skateboards or roller blades on school property, including before, during, or after school or on weekends. Students may store bicycles and go-peds in designated areas. Use of skateboards, roller blades, go-peds, bicycles, or other such items will result in confiscation of the item with return to a parent only. See the Student Handbook for details.

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If my child is over 18, can he or she smoke?

We do not allow smoking on our campus at any time, or within 300 feet of our school, including the other side of the street from campus. We will suspend students who violate our no-smoking policy.

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What is the protocol for teachers and staff to follow when they are sick?

Mingus Union High School District utilizes Aesop for all absence requests.

How do I interact with Aesop?

  1. You can interact with Aesop on the internet. Here you will be able to enter absences, check your absence schedule, update personal information, and exercise other features such as uploading your lesson plans for substitutes to view online.
  2. You can also call Aesop toll free at (1-800) 942-3767. Simply follow the voice menu to enter and manage absences and access other features. We recommend that you call in to check the computer recording of your name and title. To do this, press option five and follow the prompts.

*When entering an absence, please wait until you receive a confirmation number before you terminate the phone call or close your Internet browser window. Your transaction is not complete until you receive a confirmation number.

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