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Committee discusses tardiness and truancy language in student-attendance policy
Summary
During a May 5 second-reading review of policy 204, committee members sought clarification on how tardiness accumulates toward truancy and suggested aligning AR language with state requirements; staff said patterns of lateness can equate to unlawful absences and schools typically do not count minutes daily.
The Wallingford-Swarthmore SD policy committee reviewed the student-attendance policy (204) in a second-reading session on May 5, focusing discussion on how tardiness and minutes of lateness are treated for truancy purposes. Committee members asked whether the administrative regulation (AR) is driven by state law and how the accumulation of tardiness could count toward the statutory truancy threshold.
A Staff member explained that for purposes of truancy a student is truant after three missed days and that patterns of lateness can, in practice, lead to the same classification if the accumulated minutes remove the student from instruction regularly. “Most schools are not counting minutes, but when you have students with a pattern of lateness you have to look at whether that accumulation causes that child to be considered truant,” the Staff member said.
Committee members commended policy language prohibiting withholding physical education as a disciplinary measure and suggested the AR could include a standardized makeup policy. No formal amendments or votes were recorded; staff will proceed with the established review process and return AR clarifications when the item advances.
