Hello everyone,
I wanted to send this letter to all of our parents to notify you of the new legislative requirements to our attendance policy for the 24-25 school year. I wanted this letter to be proactive in an effort to avoid any of the required actions below. The full policies can be found on our website.
First, I want to share some of the definitions that will help you to better understand the new attendance process. One thing to keep in mind is that these percentages and days are based on a student missing school for any reason and not just unexcused absences.
Attendance Definitions:
“Chronic Absenteeism” is missing 10% of the school days or hours in a grading period.
“School Engagement Meeting” is a meeting of the student, parent, and a school official to identify barriers to attendance and interventions to develop an Absenteeism Prevention Plan to improve student attendance. This meeting takes place when a student is missing 15% of the school days or hours in a grading period.
“Absenteeism Prevention Plan” is a plan put into place during the School Engagement Meeting to assign responsibilities to the student, parent, and the school official to improve the student’s attendance.
“Truancy” is missing 20% of the school days or hours in a grading period. Truancy is filed with the county attorney when a parent does not attend the School Engagement Meeting, do not enter into an Absenteeism Prevention Plan, or violate the terms of the Absenteeism Prevention Plan.
Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy Steps:
1. When a student has 5 absences in the grading period (semester) the school official will notify the student and the student’s parent/guardian or legal or actual custodian via email or mail that includes information related to the student’s absences from school and the policies associated with additional absences.
2. When a student has 10 absences in the grading period (semester) they are considered chronically absent. The school official will send notice by mail or e-mail to the county attorney where the district’s central office is located. The school official will also notify the student, or if a minor, the student’s parent/guardian or legal or actual custodian via certified mail that includes information related to the student’s absences from school and the policies associated with additional absences.
3. When a student has 15 absences in the grading period (semester) the school official will schedule a School Engagement Meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to identify barriers to attendance and interventions, and to create and sign an Absenteeism Prevention Plan to improve student attendance. The student, parent/guardian or legal or actual custodian, and a school official must participate in the School Engagement Meeting.
4. The Absenteeism Prevention Plan will identify the causes of the student’s absences and the future responsibilities of each participant. The school official will contact the student and student’s parent/guardian at least once per week for the remainder of the school year to monitor the performance of the student and the student’s parent/guardian under the plan. If the student and student’s parent/guardian do not attend the meeting, do not enter into a plan, or violate the terms of the plan, the school official will notify the county attorney.
5. When a student has 20 absences in the grading period (semester) the school official will file truancy with the county attorney. The school official will send notice by mail or e-mail to the county attorney where the district’s central office is located. The school official will also notify the student, or if a minor, the student’s parent/guardian or legal or actual custodian via certified mail that includes information related to the student’s absences from school and the policies associated with additional absences.
These steps were created directly from the new legal requirements. The state is taking a stronger posture to help school districts handle situations when students become, “Chronically Absent”. The process is similar to what we have done in the past, except there is some defined language for consistency among the school districts. Also, there are clearly defined steps on when the County Attorney should be involved with this process. I have no doubt that if we work together that we can navigate through this process and create better school attendance for our students.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your principal to discuss this change in more detail.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brian Jaeger
Superintendent