Policy 7-200

K-8 STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Students attending school who are under seven and over sixteen years of age, whose attendance is not required by law but who are registered in a public school, must maintain satisfactory attendance.

Regular attendance at school and at assigned classes and activities is required by the board of education in order to assure that all students have access to adequate education opportunities.

The Board of Education recognizes its responsibilities for a student once the student has arrived at the school and until that time when the student leaves the school or school grounds at the close of the school day.

Board of Education responsibility terminates when the student leaves the school building or school grounds without permission from the building principal of administrative personnel designated to authorize student absence.

Documented absences are absences for illness, recognized religious observances, family emergency, or other circumstances that are clearly emergencies that prevent school attendance.

An undocumented absence, i.e., truancy, occurs when a student is absent for the entire school day or part of a day without parental consent, or with parental consent when the school deems that consent not to be in the best interest of the student.

The Board of Education recognizes the importance of regular attendance and educational success as well as early intervention when attendance patterns exhibit signs of truant behavior. A student who has four or more undocumented absences in one month or ten undocumented absences in one school year is truant. Habitual truancy represents a pattern of twenty undocumented absences in a school year.

School personnel will work diligently to secure the cooperation and assistance of parent or guardians to intervene and stop truant behavior.

In an effort to develop a prevention and early intervention process, the following guidelines will serve to direct this effort.

1. Provide annual notices to parents/guardians of procedures to monitor attendance and intervene or pursue legal action to secure regular attendance.
2. Request telephone numbers from parents/guardians where they can be reached during the school day.
3. Establish and maintain a sound record keeping system for student absences, school contacts to parents/guardians by telephone or letter, and parent documentation of a child's absences.
4. Clarify the communication process so that parents know they must contact the school by telephone or note to document a student's absence. If the principal does not accept the documentation, the parents will be notified that the absence will be defined as undocumented.
5. Schedule and convene a home/school conference once a student has four (4) undocumented absences in a calendar month of ten (10) in a school year.
6. Coordinate services with and referrals to community agencies that can provide child and family support or assistance.
7. Prepare and file a written complaint with Superior Court for students classified as habitual truants.
8. Complete and file the required reports for the Connecticut State Department of Education for students classified as habitual truants.

Reference: CGS 10-198a 
Adopted 12/10/91
Modified 10/10/95