It is important that students attend school every day. When students miss significant amounts of school, even if the absences are excused, they miss critical instruction time and learning opportunities. This often has long-term, negative effects on students, such as lower achievement and a greater chance of not graduating on time.
As a response to this, there is a new state law (House Bill 410, passed in December 2016 and effective April 6, 2017) that addresses excessive absences and truancy. A summary of this law is also on the attached 3 pages.
Excessive absence applies to students who miss 38 or more hours of school in a single month, or 65 or more hours in one school year, with or without a legitimate excuse.
Truancy used to be based on days, but now it is based on hours. It applies to students who are absent from school for 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse; 42 or more hours in a school month without a legitimate excuse; or 72 or more hours in a school year without a legitimate excuse.
Schools will send letters to the parents of students who reach or exceed the number of hours stipulated in the law.