File:  JHB - Truancy

If a student is absent without a signed parental excuse of if the student leaves school or a class without permission of the teacher or administrator in charge, the student shall be considered truant.  A "habitual truant" shall be defined as a student of compulsory attendance age who has four total days of unexcused absences from school or from class 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 purpose of defining a student as a "habitual truant."

In order to reduce the incidents of truancy, parents 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 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 student fails to report on a regularly scheduled school day and school personnel have received no indication that his parent is aware of the absence, school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel shall make a reasonable effort to notify the parents 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.  When practicable, the student's parent(s), guardian(s) or legal custodian shall participate with district personnel during the development of the plan.  The school shall require a meeting between the student's parent and appropriate school personnel to review and evaluate the reasons for the student's truancy.  Such meeting shall be held not later than 10 school days after the student's fourth unexcused absence in a month or 10th unexcused absence in a year.

In accordance with law, the district may impose appropriate penalties that relate directly to classes missed while truant.  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.  The school administration shall consider the correlation between course failure, truancy, and a student dropping out of school in developing these regulations.  Penalties shall be determined at the building and shall appear in building student handbooks.

Adopted date of manual adoption

Revised August 19, 1996

Revised October 8, 2007

Revised December 14, 2009

LEGAL REFS.:  C.R.S. 22-33-104

C.R.S. 22-33-105

C.R.S. 22-33-107

C.R.S. 22-14-101 et seq. (dropout prevention)

CROSS REFS.:  JEA, Compulsory Attendance Ages

JH, Student Absences and Excuses

NOTE:  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, investigate the cause of nonattendance and report his finds to the Board.  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:  It is up to the local Board to allow, deny or give partial credit for makeup work completed following an unexcused absence.  In accordance with state law on educational opportunities during suspension, the objective should be to reintegrate the student back into the classroom after sufficient remediation opportunities are provided.  The penalty should not be so severe as to limit the student's ability to succeed academically in the future.  See C.R.S. 22-33-105 (3)(d)(III).

NOTE 3:  The rules of the State Board of Education define an "habitual truant" as a child who has attained the age of 6 on or before August 1 of the school year in question and is under the age of 17 and who has 4 days of unexcused absences from school in a month or 10 days of unexcused absences during the school year.  On or before September 15, 2010, and on or before September 15 each year thereafter, Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, school districts must report the number of students identified as "habitually truant" to the Colorado Department of Education, 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.