Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Attendance Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears first reading to limit unlimited medical excuses in attendance policy
Summary
District staff presented a first reading of an attendance-policy change that would cap medical excuses, clarify mental-health and parent excuses, and create an exemption process for chronically ill students.
An unidentified district staff member presented a first reading of a change to the district attendance policy, saying the district is seeing a drop in chronic absenteeism and proposing limits on medical excuses. "We are seeing a decrease in chronic absenteeism this year," the staff member said, adding that the district set a goal to reduce chronic absenteeism by 5 percentage points and is currently “right around” that goal.
The proposal would keep five parent excuses total (three usable for any reason and two designated for mental-health reasons) and limit medical excuses to 10 absences or tardies. Under the current policy the district allows five parent excuses, two mental-health notes and unlimited medical excuses. The staff member said chronically ill students would be exempt if a medical provider documents ongoing therapy or care: "If a student does have a chronic illness ... [the medical provider] fill out that form for me, and then along with that, provide an excuse so that I know that that truly is a medical need for that child."
The staff member defined chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent of school days; with a 162-day school year, that equals 16 days. The presenter said the district ended the previous school year with 28 percent of students chronically absent, is at about 23 percent this year, was at 34 percent in 2022–23 and was at 18 percent in 2018–19 (pre-COVID levels). The staff member said the national average is about 30 percent and the state average is roughly 28–29 percent.
A parent who spoke during the discussion objected to reducing parent excuses, saying it would require extra doctor visits: "As a parent, I'm not really excited to see the number of parent excuses being changed ... it's a pain in the [expletive] for me to have to take them to the doctor just to get an excuse for school." The staff member said the State Department previously asked the district to adopt two mental-health parent notes and explained how the five parent excuses could be allocated between mental-health and other reasons.
This was presented as the first reading of the policy; the staff member said the board would be asked to consider a second reading and formal adoption at the June board meeting. The presenter invited board members to request additional research or clarification before that meeting.
