District Policy
A
student of legal school age who is not enrolled in school shall be
considered truant. A student of legal school age enrolled in school who
exhibits a pattern of unexcused absences which effects the student's
potential for academic success shall be considered truant. The Board of
School Commissioners will encourage regular attendance and work to
reduce truancy by soliciting cooperation from students, parents,
community, and social agencies by supporting strict regulations in
regard to tardiness and unexcused absence, and by encouraging diligence
on the part of responsible staff members in investigating the causes of
absence and seeking appropriate remedies.
Per AOE Register
Truant-A student enrolled in school, regardless of age, is considered truant for each school day the student is absent for the full day without an acceptable excuse. (see excused absences glossary entry) For federal reporting a truant is a student with 10 or more unexcused absences
Truancy Rate–For the purposes of reporting, VT AOE uses the federal definition of truancy rate for schools and districts. Truancy rate is calculated by dividing the number of students with 10 or more unexcused absences by the number of students enrolled on October 1.
The legislature has this (§ 1123. Attendance may be excused
(a)
The superintendent of a public school may excuse, in writing, any
student from attending the school for a definite time, but for not more than ten consecutive school days and only for emergencies or forabsence from town.)
S. Burlington Policy (shared by Michelle Devino)
When a student is known to be leaving the school district
and returning (considered a valid reason because we know about it), or students that are chronically absent (10 consecutive days of
school without a known/valid reason), the VT Agency of Education
recommended the following best practice:
If a student misses 10 consecutive days of
school
without a valid reason, we are to withdraw that student from our
school after the 10th day. The school
district should still do the truancy visit but still withdraw the
student from PowerSchool.
Source: Phone conversation between Julie Brancato and the VT AOE Help Desk in February 2020.