Attendance Policies

Attendance is one of the main predictors of success in school, for obvious reasons. While we can't control all the factors related to whether children come to school on time, there are many effective interventions for improving school attendance.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Attendance is one of the main predictors of success in school, for obvious reasons. While we can’t control all the factors related to whether children come to school on time, there are many effective interventions for improving school attendance.

KEY POINTS

  • Most schools post their attendance policies on their website, so if you are looking for fresh ideas, this is a great place to start.
  • While much of attendance policy is dictated by state law, there are elements (such as incentives) that can be tailored to your community to make school attendance part of the culture.

RESOURCES

SHARED WISDOM

  • Q: Are other public schools or public charters requesting families to enroll at the semester at certain times in the Fall semester?  If so, could you share any written procedures and dates that you have used and how that is communicated to enrolling students? (CounselorTalk, December 2022)
    • A: Under Indiana Compulsory School Attendance Law, all students must be enrolled immediately.  There is not a “pause” or delay in enrollment. Please contact Catherine Danyluk, IDOE State Attendance Officer at 317-232-9150 or cdanyluk@doe.in.gov with questions.  You can also see the Enrollment Restrictions and Denial of Enrollment guidance.
  • Q: Can someone direct me to the code regarding early release for students? I seem to recall it requires a medical condition, but can’t put my hands on it. (December 2022)
    • A: GUIDANCE ON INSTRUCTIONAL TIME FOR SCHOOLS
    • A: This is the latest document we have found. I’m not sure if it’s the most recent. Question #20 may be helpful.
      IDOE Instructional Days & Time Requirements, FAQs 2016-2017
      • 20. Must every student have a full class schedule?
        • Yes. The Indiana State Board of Education’s instructional time rules require schools to provide a full instructional day to all students. This requirement includes seniors. A student instructional day is defined as a minimum of five (5) hours of instructional time in Grades 1 through 6 and six (6) hours of instructional time in Grades 7 through 12. This means that every student in Grades 1 through 12 must have the opportunity to come to school for 180 full days.
        • Students may not be granted early release.
        • A high school student who is enrolled in at least twelve (12) credit hours of on-campus dual credit courses (as described in IC 21-43-1-2.5) is not required to comply with the minimum six hours of instructional time during the semester in which the student is enrolled in at least twelve (12) credit hours.
        • Shortened class schedules may be approved for students whose educational programs require a shortened schedule. Such circumstances might include:
          • a) Career and Technical students who have approved career/technical education programs that include an employment component. Meaning students in CTE programs, who are working during the school day in their CTE field may be approved to have less than 7 periods per semester. Example, a senior only needs Government/Econ and English to graduate, which would be 2 periods each semester, with the WBL Capstone maxed out at 3 periods per semester, that would put the student with 5 periods but using this circumstance, the administrator could approve the student to only have 5 periods instead of 7 for the semester.
          • b) Special education students whose individualized education programs (IEPs), as developed under 511 IAC 7, call for a shortened schedule.
          • c) Students receiving homebound instruction.
          • d) Students enrolled in college courses under the post-secondary enrollment program. Indiana Code Title 21. Higher Education IC 21-43-4; IC 21-43-1-2.5.
          • e) Students enrolled in adult education programs.
          • f) Students enrolled in non-public schools, but who participate in public school programs on a part-time basis.
          • g) Kindergarten students on a traditional half-day schedule.
          • h) Students participating in the Indiana Code 20-30-2-2.2. School flex instructional program (IC 20-30-2-2.2)
          • i) Students with unusual or extraordinary circumstances such as those who are:
            • 1) Pregnant or parenting.
            • 2) Residing in a detention center.
            • 3) Participating in an alternative education program.
            • 4) Emancipated and have to work but are still of school age.
            • 5) Experiencing a temporary medical condition but do not qualify for homebound instruction.
          • j) Returning to complete their graduation requirements after having dropped out of school several years ago.
          • k) Attending an alternative to suspension or expulsion program.
  • Q: We had a student with an IEP withdraw who has not enrolled in the school listed on the withdrawal form. No schools have contacted us for records, parents/emergency contacts are not returning phone calls, and an STN search showed that she isn’t being claimed by another school.  I’ve not had this situation before. Does anyone have any recommendations? Is this a DCS call?
    • A: In my experience you can do one of two things (or both if you feel necessary). You can make a DCS report and you can also submit a clearing house report, which is essentially a way to report an unknown location of a student.  The clearing house report/form can be found here – https://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/attendance/clearinghouse-graduation-rate-form-04-06-17.pdf
    • A: Usually DCS will not do anything until the student has been gone for 10 school days. We had this happen earlier this year (reported both places), and they eventually did track down the students.
  • Q: From time to time we have students who will just stop showing up. I am sure you all have had this happen. Aside from contacting DCS do any of you know the state guidance on when to report a student missing? Or any additional steps to follow?
  • Q: I was told about a student from another high school where they say the state has a policy that if you miss more than 40 days excused/unexcused/doctors notes/funeral/etc. you cannot graduate. Can someone lead me to the policy?
    • A: There is no state requirement. From Robin LeClaire, Director of School Improvement, IDOE (May 2019)
  • From Counselor Talk, November 2018:
    • Patrick Clark recommended looking up our data at our school correlating GPA to attendance rate.  They did and found the higher the GPA, the lower the days absent.  (I ran ours and it came out the same.)
    • Trudi Wolfe suggested this website that has a great deal of resources no matter the grade level: www.attendanceworks.org
  • Effective attendance policies must include a component of engaging parental cooperation.
    • How do you convince parents of the importance?Patrick Clark recommended looking up our data at our school correlating GPA to attendance rate.  They did and found the higher the GPA, the lower the days absent.  (I ran ours and it came out the same.)Trudi Wolfe suggested this website that has a great deal of resources no matter the grade level: www.attendanceworks.org
  • Before developing an intervention to improve attendance, it is important to identify the underlying causes of the problem for your specific population.

CONTENT FEEDBACK

If you have suggestions, feedback, or resources, please email counselor1stop@inspiresuccess.org and let us know.