Students who aren’t in school miss important learning. Missing just two days of school a month for any reason – illness, excused or unexcused absence – can affect student performance. Research has found a correlation between chronic or excessive absenteeism, whether excused or unexcused, and lower assessment scores and lower graduation rates.

Under state law, student absences will be considered excused for the following reasons:

• The student is participating in a district- or school-approved activity;
• The student is ill or has a health condition or medical appointment;
• The student has a family emergency;
• The student is absent due to the observance of a religious or cultural holiday;
• The student is involved in a court, judicial proceeding, or is serving on a jury;
• The student is participating in a post-secondary, technical school, or apprenticeship program visitation or scholarship interview;
• The student is participating in a state-recognized search and rescue activity;
• The student is absent due to an issue directly related to their homeless status;
• The student is absent related to the deployment activities of a parent or legal guardian who is on active duty;
• The student is absent due to school discipline; or
• The student is absent due to an activity that the principal and parent mutually approve of.

School principals have the authority to determine if an absence meets any of these criteria.

Parents or guardians should notify the school in person, by phone, or in writing/email within 48 hours of an absence if they want it to be considered an excused absence.

There are times when your student may be too sick for school. The district and King County Department of Public Health work together to help keep children from spreading communicable disease.Keeping children home when they are too sick for school protects other students and staff from potential illness. Guidelines on the Too Sick for School? page will help you determine if your student has symptoms that warrant keeping them home from school.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% of the school year. Missing just two days of school a month adds up to 18 days over the school year.

Under state law, elementary schools are required to conference with parents/guardians when an elementary student has five absences for any reason in a month or ten absences over the course of the year. The purpose of the conference is to identify the barriers to the student’s regular attendance. The conference will also identify supports and resources that may be made available to the family so that the student is able to regularly attend school.

Truancy is defined as when students miss school without a valid excuse.

Under Washington state’s truancy law, the school/district are required to take specific actions when students are truant.

• Parents will be notified in writing or by phone after one unexcused absence in a month.
• A parent conference will be initiated after three unexcused absences in a month in order to improve the student’s attendance.
• The parent and school must enter into a contract to improve the student’s attendance after five unexcused absences in a month, or the case may be referred to a Community Truancy Board.
• The school district may file truancy petitions with the juvenile court after seven unexcused absences in a month, or ten unexcused absences in an academic year.

Ideally students are in school every day. When parents or guardians need to take their student out of town, they should make arrangements with the school for the absence. Provisions should be made by the parent for some program of study so that the student is not too far behind the instructional program on his/her return to school.

Parents and guardians can monitor their student’s absences through Family Access.

If you receive a letter from the school, please contact them to conference or set up a meeting to discuss your student’s attendance. If your student is truant, you can find more information about the state’s truancy laws here:

Parents' Guide to Truancy in Washington

Tips/Tools for Families - School Attendance, Absences and Truancy
(Washington State Office of the Education Ombudsman's)
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