Falcon School District #49, El Paso County, Colorado Page 1 of 2
File: JHB
Truancy
If a student is absent without a signed parental excuse or if the student leaves
school or a class without permission of the teacher or administrator in charge, the
student shall be considered truant. A “habitual truant” shall be defined as a student
of compulsory attendance age who has four unexcused occurrences of absences
during any school year. Absences due to suspension or expulsion shall not be
counted in the total of unexcused absences.
In order to reduce the incidents of truancy, parents of all students shall be notified in
writing at the beginning of each school year of their obligation to ensure that all
children of compulsory attendance age attend school. Parents shall be required to
acknowledge in writing awareness of their obligations and to furnish the school with
a telephone number or other means of contacting them during the school day.
The school shall establish a system of monitoring individual unexcused absences.
When a student fails to report on a regularly scheduled school day and school
personnel have received no indication that the parent is aware of the absence,
school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel shall make a
reasonable effort to notify the parent/guardian by telephone.
When a student is declared habitually truant, the school shall require a meeting
between the student’s parent and appropriate school personnel to review and
evaluate the reasons for the student being habitually truant. Such meeting shall be
held not later than 10 school days after the student’s fourth unexcused absence.
Penalties
A student shall be given notification of his first truancy offense. The student may be
subject to disciplinary action which includes a three-day in-school detention or he
may be suspended from school for three days. Additional truancies shall be grounds
for detention, suspension, and/or expulsion.
No credit shall be permitted for any student for any class or portion of a class during
which time the student was truant.
Adopted: May 13, 1994.
LEGAL REFS.: C.R.S. 22-32-104
C.R.S. 22-33-107
CROSS REFS.: JEA, Compulsory Attendance Ages
JH, Student Absences and Excuses
File: JHB
Falcon School District #49, El Paso County, Colorado Page 2 of 2
NOTE 1: The law requires the local board of education to designate an
attendance officer for the district to enforce the provisions of the compulsory
attendance law, counsel students and parents, investigate the causes of
nonattendance, and report those findings to the board.
NOTE 2: It is up to the local Board to allow or deny credit for makeup work
completed following an unexcused absence. CASB recommends that the district’s
philosophy regarding make up work be consistent throughout the attendance and
discipline policies. In accordance with state law, the objective always should be to
reintegrate the student back into the classroom after sufficient remediation
opportunities are provided.