Salt Lake School District reviews attendance, clarifies SRO role and expands pilots to reduce chronic absenteeism

Dr. Taylor, a district staff member presenting on attendance and truancy, told the Salt Lake School District board during a study session that the district is focusing on training, auditing attendance input and scaling small pilots to address chronic absenteeism that exceeds state and national averages.

The presentation, requested by board members, summarized definitions the district uses — distinguishing truancy (unexcused absences past a statutory threshold), chronic absenteeism (all absences, excused or unexcused), excused absences (illness, religious observance, approved family events) and unexcused absences — and reviewed required tiered interventions and documentation schools must follow before referring a student for truancy.

The discussion mattered because the district’s board set a goal to reduce chronic absenteeism from roughly 28% to 10% by 2029 and because board members said they hear from teachers, parents and principals that procedures are not consistently followed. "We have to monitor input through PowerSchool and do periodic audits," Dr. Taylor said, describing planned fidelity checks of attendance data and training for site-based teams.

Why it matters: chronic absenteeism affects instruction for students across grade levels and, district staff said, can be driven by engagement, family barriers and the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic. Board members pressed staff on gaps between district policy and what school…