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Duval board reviews merged attendance policy after state adds early truancy intervention
Summary
Staff proposed merging policies 5.4 and 5.42 into a single student‑attendance policy that incorporates a recent state change allowing earlier truancy petitions for students with a history of chronic absenteeism; board members asked staff to consolidate duplicated language and add explicit makeup‑work provisions.
Staff told the committee they propose collapsing policy 5.4 into 5.42 so the district’s attendance policy clearly covers compulsory attendance, definitions of chronic absenteeism, excused vs. unexcused absences, and administration of attendance. Miss Taylor said the key statutory change is an early‑truancy intervention provision: staff may now file a truancy petition for students who have a history of chronic absenteeism, a change not previously allowed.
"The only change is the early truancy intervention," Taylor said. "That now it states that if a child has history of chronic absenteeism, we can now intervene earlier." She described the merged draft as otherwise retaining existing 5.4 and 5.42 language while centralizing it under a single policy.
Board members asked detailed questions about duplicated language (for example, off‑campus religious instruction appearing in two places), whether certain subsections should be merged, and how excused‑absence reporting would work for state attendance counts. Staff confirmed the draft sets a 30‑day window for committee turnaround on challenges and referred to the student progression plan for chronically absent definitions (e.g., five days in a 30‑day period or ten in 90).
Several members pressed staff to add explicit makeup‑work language. Board member Pearson and others said they want teachers required to provide missed assignments and exams regardless of absence reason; staff agreed that could be added and noted the makeup‑work expectation also aligns with the district’s student progression plan.
Staff will return with a consolidated redline merging the duplicated sections, clearly listing excused‑absence categories in one place, and adding language on makeup work. The merged policy will be scheduled for a board meeting notice (staff indicated Jan. 6) and further committee review.
