Schools get serious about attendance
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Local schools will be increasing communication about student attendance this year, as they comply with a new Iowa law went into affect July 1. Senate File 2435 required schools to adopt an attendance policy that addresses absenteeism and truancy.
The goal of the legislation is to prevent students from being chronically absent, which is defined as missing more than ten percent of the days or hours in a grading period.
Nearly 23 percent of enrolled Iowa students missed more than 10 percent of scheduled school days or instructional hours (regardless of the reason for the absence) during the 2022-23 school year according to Spring Student Reporting in Iowa (SRI) data.
Both Diagonal and Mount Ayr Community Schools have outlined what will happen if students miss too many days of school.
Diagonal Community Schools approved two new policies at their regular board of education meeting on Wednesday, August 21. They also revised the parent and student school handbook to include language related to the new law, SF 2435.
“In the handbook, it’s stating that chronic absenteeism is when somebody misses more than 10% of the 1,184 hours of school [in a year],” stated Principal Gary Clark, “That’s unexcused or excused. It doesn’t matter.”
While there are six exceptions to the policy, if students miss 10% of school hours, a letter will be sent to the family. If a student misses 15% of school hours, a meeting will be held with the family. When it gets to 20% of the 1,184 hours missed, then the county attorney will get involved to address truancy.
Diagonal school administration will be reviewing attendance reports every two weeks to proactively address days missed.
“Absenteeism is now part of the school report card,” said Jason Shaffer, Mount Ayr Community School District Superintendent.
In Mount Ayr, if a student misses 8 out of 80 days (10% of days) in a semester, their family will now receive a letter from the school.
If a student misses 12 days out of 80, or 15% of days in the semester, a school engagement meeting will be held to discuss the reasons for the student’s absences and attempt to remove barriers and improve attendance.
An absenteeism prevention plan will also be created to note future responsibilities of each participant.
The first two interventions are an effort to avoid getting the county attorney involved. Should a student miss 20% of school days in a semester, the county attorney enforces attendance laws and can follow through with court action.
“I think it’s things we are doing already,” Shaffer stated, “It’s now in specific policies.”
These policies, approved at the Mount Ayr Board of Education meeting on Monday, September 9, include 501.09: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy, and Regulation 501.09-R(1): Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy. A third policy, 501.03: Compulsory Attendance, was also updated to better align with the chronic absenteeism and truancy policies, changing instructional hours to days.
Diagonal Community Schools adopted the same chronic absenteeism and truancy policies, and rescinded truancy policies 501.10 and 501.10R1 as they no longer need to identify a truancy officer.
Parents are responsible for notifying the student’s school as soon as they know the student will not be attending school on that day.
