A student is considered truant
when he or she is absent from school without a valid excuse for three
full days in one school year or is tardy or absent for more than any
30-minute period during the school day on three occasions in one school
year, or any combination thereof. The school shall report the student to
the local public school district's attendance office or the public
school district's superintendent.
In
the event that a school suspects that a student is truant (absent from
school without a valid excuse), the school administration should first
contact the parents/guardians. If the school suspects that the student
is a habitual truant (absent three times in a school year without a
valid excuse) and all resources at the school level have been exhausted,
the school principal should notify the local Child Welfare and Attendance authorities.
If
a student has been reported once as a truant and then is absent again
for one or more days without a valid excuse or tardy on one or more days
without a valid excuse, the school should again report the student as
truant to the local public school district's attendance office or the
public school district's superintendent. A student who has been reported
as truant three or more times is considered a habitual truant and is
subject to dismissal.
If a student has been absent without
excuse, and it is impossible to contact the parents/guardians or
designated emergency contacts within 4 hours and after repeated
attempts, the school should notify the attendance office of the local
public school district, the local police department, Child Protective Services, or all of those agencies.