Your child can, at times, be excused from school if there's a valid reason, like illness, where a written doctor's notice is provided to the school. However, unexcused absences may conflict with mandatory attendance laws. In Connecticut, a "truant" is defined as a child aged 5 to 18 who is enrolled in a public or private school and has 4 unexcused absences in any one month or 10 unexcused absences in a year. A "habitual truant" is one who accumulates 20 unexcused absences within a school year. Local ordinances may be adopted by cities and towns regarding children found in public places during school hours. The police have the authority to detain and return a habitual truant to school.
New York state law recognizes legal absences for reasons including illness, family sickness or death, impassable roads or unsafe weather conditions, religious observances, school-supervised trips, and required court attendance. Illegal absences fall into two categories: educational neglect and truancy. Educational neglect refers to absences known and consented to by parents for non-legal reasons. Truancy occurs when students, expected by their parents to be at school, do not attend for other than the legally acceptable reasons.
Truancy Policies in Schools
In Connecticut, local education boards must establish truancy policies that include:
- A meeting with the parent and the truant child, alongside appropriate school personnel, to assess the reasons for truancy. This meeting should occur no later than ten school days after the fourth unexcused absence in a month or the tenth unexcused absence in a school year.
- Coordination with community agencies providing services to children and families.
- Annually notifying parents at the start of the school year, or upon any new enrollment during the year, about their obligations as parents overseeing a child in public school from kindergarten through eighth grade.
- Collecting a contact number or other means of communication from the parents annually and upon any new enrollment for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
- Instituting a system to monitor unexcused absences for children from kindergarten through eighth grade, ensuring an effort is made to notify parents by phone if the child is absent without known parental awareness.
In New York City, a student is considered chronically absent if their attendance is below 90%. Every school is required to have a system in place to inform parents of their child's absence or tardiness. Schools must also analyze attendance data to develop intervention strategies aimed at improving attendance rates.
Failure to Comply With Truancy Policies
In Connecticut, if a parent does not participate in a truancy meeting or fails to cooperate with the school in resolving the truancy issue, the school district's superintendent must file a written complaint with the court. The board of education may appoint individuals to oversee compliance with attendance laws, who can investigate and enforce regular attendance, and prosecute attendance law violations. Findings from these investigations are reported to the school principal or superintendent, who may need to file a complaint in court based on the findings.
In New York, failure to ensure regular and timely school attendance for your child could lead to a neglect petition filed against you in Family Court by the Administration for Children’s Services.
Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding truancy in Connecticut, or wish to consult an attorney regarding a legal matter, please contact Joseph C. Maya and the attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. at (203) 221-3100 or Jmaya@mayalaw.com to arrange a free initial consultation.
