Student Attendance

• Schedule non-urgent appointments to occur after school.
• Only let your student stay home if they are truly sick.
• Develop a back-up plan for getting to school in case of the unexpected.
• Talk to your student about the importance of attendance.
• Talk to your student’s teachers if you notice sudden changes in behavior. These could be signs of an underlying issue.
• Update your student’s information at school as your address and/or phone number(s) change.
• If your student is going to be absent, please contact your school’s attendance office. The attendance voicemail system is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If prior notice is not possible, you may call, send an e-mail, or send a written note upon the student’s return to school.

Notification shall include:

• Name of student
• Name and contact information of person providing the excuse and his/her relationship to the student
• Date(s) of absence Reason for absence

• Starting in kindergarten, too many absences (excused and unexcused) can cause children to fall behind in school.
• Missing 10% of the school year is considered chronically absent. That’s only 2 days a month!
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Setting a regular bedtime and morning routines can reduce tardies and absences.
• By 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school.
• Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with school work, dealing with a bully or facing some other potentially serious difficulty.

The Becca Bill requires that children from age 8 to 17 attend a public school, private school, or a district-approved home school program.

Children who are 6- or 7-years-old are not required to be enrolled in school.

Youth who are 16 or older may be excused from attending public school if they meet certain requirements.

• After five (5) excused absences in a 30-day period, or ten (10) or more excused absences in the school year, the school is required* to schedule a conference to discuss the barriers to attendance and create a plan to support improved attendance.
• If your student has an IEP or 504 Plan the team that created the plan will reconvene.
  *A conference is not required if your student has provided a doctor's note, or the absences are due to a planned excused absence.

• Contact the school to excuse the absence(s).
• If the absence meets one of the criteria in the WAC 392.401A-020, the absence will be excused.
• The school principal (or designee) does have the authority to determine if an absence meets the criteria for an excused absence.
• If your student misses a substantial number of days, the school may require qualified 3rd party documentation to excuse all future absences and early dismissals.
• Definition of a qualified 3rd party documentation would be: a note from a doctor, dentist, therapist, etc. which includes the specific dates of absence(s) to be excused.

• After one (1) unexcused absence within any 30-day period, the parent will be notified by a Robocall.
• After three (3) unexcused absences within a 30-day period a conference will be scheduled with the parent (and student, if age appropriate) for the purpose of identifying barriers to the student's regular attendance and provide support and resources to reduce barriers.
• Between two (2) and five (5) unexcused cumulative absences in a school year, an Assessment to eliminate or reduce the student's absences will be administered to identify any barriers to attendance.
• If your student has an IEP or 504 Plan, the team will reconvene to discuss any necessary adjustments.

• No later than seven (7) unexcused absences an agreement will be made with the student and/or parent to establish school attendance requirements.

• Interventions consistent with the Assessment will be implemented.

• Community Engagement Boards are district level interventions that you may be referred to.

• At seven (7) unexcused absences in a 30-day period or fifteen (15) unexcused absences in an academic school year, and if the above actions have been taken and are not successful, the district will file a Truancy Petition with the Pierce County Juvenile Court alleging a violation of RCW 28A.225.010 by the parent, student or both parent and student.

• There is a Pre-trial Conference scheduled with the Fact-Finding/Trial Date.
  - The Probation Officer, school, family and student will meet to discuss an alternative to court.

• Additional hearings may be set at the Fact-Finding Hearing. As attendance improves, the hearings may be canceled.

• Court Hearings - students 12 years old and older are also required to attend the Court Hearings.

• After 20 consecutive days of non-attendance, excused or unexcused, the school will withdraw the student.