Senate File 2435 Explained — Attendance & Chronic Absenteeism
posted August 27, 2024
What is Senate File 2435?
Senate File 2535 is recently passed legislation addressing various educational issues, including chronic absenteeism and attendance.
What is Chronic Absenteeism?
Chronic absenteeism occurs when a student misses more than 10% of the days or hours in a grading period.
We Are Here to Help!
We understand there are many factors that can cause a student to miss school. Please know, we are here to help. We want your child to be successful, and being present at school is an important factor in that success. We urge you to contact your child’s school office if you have questions, concerns, or need assistance.
School Engagement Meeting
Once a student has missed 15% or more of the days in a semester, the school will initiate an engagement meeting. This meeting will include the student, a parent or guardian, and a school official. The meeting is designed to reduce absenteeism through the following steps:
- Identify — During the meeting, the student, school official, and parent/guardian will develop an absentee prevention plan to identify causes of their absenteeism.
- Delegate — Each participant in the school engagement meeting will take responsibility for various aspects of the absentee prevention plan.
- Monitor — A school official will monitor the participant’s compliance with the plan and contact each participant at least once per week to follow up.
- Refer — Appropriate referrals may occur to counseling or other outside resources to assist with the plan to prevent absenteeism.
Attendance Requirements
The Cardinal School Board is required to set the number of days of required attendance for the schools in the district.
The Board has adopted a policy related to attendance and absenteeism.
The adopted policy outlines the definitions of chronic absenteeism, the interventions to prevent and address chronic absenteeism, and the penalties for students who are chronically absent.
Calculating Chronic Absenteeism/Truancy
Attendance is by semester.
10% absent: Chronically Absent
15% absent: Engagement Meeting
20% absent: Truant/County Attorney contacted
Failure to Comply With Absentee Prevention Plan
If the participants fail to comply with the absentee prevention plan, they will be referred to the county attorney for potential civil enforcement.
