File:  JHB - Truancy

NOTE: Colorado school boards are required by law to adopt a policy on this subject and the law contains some specific direction as to the content or language. This sample contains the content/language that CASB believes best meets the intent of the law. However, the board should consult with its own legal counsel to determine appropriate language that meets local circumstances and needs.

If a student is absent without an excuse signed by the parent/guardian or if the student leaves school or a class without permission of the teacher or administrator in charge, the student shall be considered truant. An "habitual truant" shall be defined as a student of compulsory attendance age who has four total days of unexcused absences from school in any one month or 10 total days of unexcused absences during any school year. Absences due to suspension or expulsion shall not be counted in the total of unexcused absences for purposes of defining a student as an "habitual truant."

In order to reduce the incidents of truancy, parents/guardians of all students shall be notified in writing at the beginning of each school year of their obligation to ensure that all children of compulsory attendance age attend school. Parents/guardians shall be required to acknowledge in writing awareness of their obligations and to furnish the school with a telephone number or other means of contacting them during the school day.

The school shall establish a system of monitoring individual unexcused absences. When a student fails to report on a regularly scheduled school day and school personnel have received no indication that the parent/guardian is aware of the absence, school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel shall make a reasonable effort to notify the parent/guardian by telephone.

A plan shall be developed for a student who is at risk of being declared habitually truant with the goal of assisting the child to remain in school. [Optional language:  The plan shall also include strategies to address the reasons for the truancy. When practicable, the student's parent, guardian or legal custodian shall participate with district personnel during the development of the plan. Appropriate school personnel shall make reasonable efforts to meet with the parent, guardian or legal custodian to review and evaluate the reasons for the student's truancy.]

NOTE:  State law provides that the plan must "include appropriate sanctions other than placement in a juvenile detention facility." C.R.S. 22-33-107 (3)(b).

In accordance with law, the district may impose appropriate penalties that relate directly to classes missed while truant. [Optional language: Penalties may include a warning, school detention or in-school suspension. Academic penalties, out-of-school suspensions or expulsion shall not be imposed for any truancy.]

The administration shall develop regulations to implement appropriate penalties for truancy. [Optional language: The school administration shall consider the correlation between course failure, truancy and a student dropping out of school in developing these regulations and shall implement research-based strategies to re-engage students with a high number of truancies.]

(Adoption date)

LEGAL REFS.:  C.R.S. 22-14-101 et seq. (dropout prevention and student re-engagement)

C.R.S. 22-33-104 (compulsory school attendance)

C.R.S. 22-33-105 (suspension/expulsion)

C.R.S. 22-33-107 (enforcement of compulsory school attendance)

C.R.S. 22-33-108 (judicial proceedings to enforce school attendance laws)

1 CCR 301-78 Rules 1.00 et seq. (standardized calculation for counting student attendance and truancy)

CROSS REFS.: IHBG, Home Schooling

JEA, Compulsory Attendance Ages

JFC, Student Withdrawal from School/Dropouts

JH, Student Absences and Excuses

NOTE 1:  State law requires the local board of education to designate an attendance officer for the district to enforce the provisions of the compulsory attendance law, counsel students and parents, and investigate the causes of non-attendance and report those findings to the Board. C.R.S. 22-33-107(1). State law allows the board by resolution to authorize one or more school employees to represent the school district in judicial proceedings to enforce compulsory attendance. C.R.S. 22-32-110 (1)(mm).

NOTE 2: State law provides that court proceedings to compel compliance with the compulsory attendance law shall only be used as a last-resort approach for addressing the problem of truancy. The district shall first have attempted other options for addressing truancy that employ best practices and research-based strategies to minimize the need for court action. Before initiating court proceedings, the district shall provide written notice to the student and his or her parent that the district will initiate court proceedings if the student doesn't comply with the compulsory attendance law. C.R.S. 22-33-108 (5). State law limits the court's ability to sentence a truant student to juvenile detention. C.R.S. 22-33-108 (7).

NOTE 3: The rules of the State Board of Education define a "habitual truant" as a child who has attained the age of six on or before August 1 of the school year in question and is under the age of 17 and who has four total days of unexcused absences from school in a month or 10 total days of unexcused absences during the school year. 1 CCR 301-78, Rule 2.00(7). Districts must report the number of students identified as "habitually truant" to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), in accordance with the State Board of Education's rules regarding the calculation of student attendance and truancy, 1 CCR 301-78. CDE must then make this information accessible to the public by posting it on its website. The State Board's rules also specify how districts shall record and aggregate student absences.

[Revised April 2019]

COLORADO SAMPLE POLICY 1994©