Iowa’s new Compulsory Attendance and Truancy Law
Launch the media gallery 1 playerEd-Co Families,
Welcome back to another school year! We wanted to update families on a recent change in legislation surrounding attendance-Iowa’s new Compulsory Attendance and Truancy Law. This law is one of the most impactful changes for the coming year.
This change comes because the state will be using student attendance as part of compliance with (ESSA) Every Student Succeeds Act. This will hold districts accountable as part of the Iowa School Performance Profile designation.
This change to the law will require strict legal responsibilities by the school district as follows.
By law, chronic absenteeism is defined as ANY absence from school for more than 10% of the total hours in a grading period (semester). When a student meets the threshold to be considered chronically absent (10%), the school official will send notice by mail or e-mail to the county attorney where the district’s central office is located.
When a student is absent 15% of the hours in a semester, then the district is required to schedule an engagement meeting with the parent/guardian and student to create an absenteeism prevention plan. Parents/Guardians and students are required to attend this meeting and the district will be required to contact the family once per week for the remainder of the school year to monitor the performance of the student under the plan. If the student and/or parent/guardian do not attend or enter a plan or violate the terms of the plan, the district is required to notify the county attorney.
Truancy means a child who is absent from school for ANY reason for at least 20% of the hours in a grading period (semester).
Please note that there are NO longer any excused absences for purposes of calculating whether a student is chronically absent and/or truant. When a student is absent for 20% of the hours in a semester, the district is required to contact the county attorney.
Sincerely,
Ed-Co Administration
