Student Attendance/Truancy Procedures - Cedarburg School District

CEDARBURG SCHOOL DISTRICT 

Board Policy Manual 

431-Rule 

A. EXCUSED ABSENCES 

STUDENT ATTENDANCE/TRUANCY PROCEDURES 

1. Prior Parent-Excused Absences - Any student excused in writing by his/her parent/guardian 

prior to an absence is excused from school attendance. A student may be excused by the 

parent/guardian under this provision for not more than 10 days in the school year. Students so 

excused are responsible for making up work missed during the absence. 

a. Family vacations or trips – For high school students to be excused for family vacations they 

must meet the following: (1) regular education students must have satisfactory progress 

reports, a C average and/or 5 point average in the last 9 week grading period, and (2) special 

education students must be making satisfactory progress on their individualized education 

programs (IEPs). 

b. Activities that have a direct relationship to the school curriculum. 

c. College visitation for second semester high school juniors and seniors (2 days). Additional 

days may be granted on an individual basis by the guidance department/administration. 

In all cases involving reasons (a) or (b) the student must be accompanied by a parent/guardian or 

other adult so designated by the parent/guardian in writing. 

2. Board-Excused Absences - The Board of Education has established the following additional 

acceptable reasons for excused absences. Parents/guardians are required to notify the school of an 

absence prior to or on the day of the absence. All excused absences also require written approval 

of the student’s parent/guardian. 

a. Illness (The student is temporarily not in proper physical or mental condition to attend school) 

The school attendance officer may request the parent/guardian to obtain a written statement 

from a physician or licensed practitioner as proof of the physical or mental condition of the 

student. Such excuse shall be made in writing, shall state the period of time for which it is valid, 

and shall not exceed 30 days 

b. Medical (including doctor and dental appointments) 

c. Family emergency 

d. Religious holidays or instruction (limited by law) 

e. School-sponsored or recommended activities 

f. Serving as an Election Official – Students may be excused to serve as an election official 

provided they have at least a 3.0 grade point average or the equivalent and have the 

permission of their parents/guardians and the building principal. 

g. Sounding Taps – A student in grades 6 to 12 may be excused for the purpose of sounding 

“Taps” during a military honors funeral for a deceased veteran.

h. Any absences not categorized above may be discussed with the building principal or designee 

and excused as deemed appropriate. 

Absence from school during a period of suspension or expulsion will be considered an excused 

absence for purposes of these procedures. 

Students with excused absences are responsible for the work they miss while absent from school. 

Assignments may be obtained from teachers prior to the absence or upon the student's return. All 

tests and assignments missed during the absence must be made up within a reasonable mutually 

agreeable time after the student returns to class. 

B. SPECIAL STUDENT EXEMPTIONS FROM SCHOOL ATTENDANCE 

1. Upon a student's notification of the Board, and with written approval of the student's 

parent/guardian, any student who is 16 years of age or over and a child at risk, may attend a 

technical college in lieu of high school or on a part time basis. The student and his/her 

parent/guardian must agree, in writing, that the student will participate in a program or curriculum 

modification leading to the student's high school graduation. 

2. Upon a student's request, and with written approval of the student's parent/guardian, any student 

who is 16 years of age or over may be excused by the Board from regular school attendance if the 

student and his/her parent/guardian agree, in writing, that the student will participate in a program 

or curriculum modification leading to the student's high school graduation. 

3. Upon a student's request, and with written approval of the student's parent/guardian, any student 

who is 17 years of age or over may be excused by the Board from regular school attendance if the 

student and his/her parent/guardian agree, in writing, that the student will participate in a program 

or curriculum modification leading to the student's high school graduation or leading to a high 

school equivalency diploma. 

Prior to a student's admission to a program leading to the student's high school graduation or a high 

school equivalency program under (2) and (3) above, the student, his/her parent/guardian, the Board 

and a representative of the high school equivalency program or program leading to the student's 

high school graduation shall enter into a written agreement. The written agreement shall state the 

services to be provided, the time needed to complete the high school equivalency program or 

program leading to high school graduation, and how the performance of the student will be 

monitored. The agreement shall be monitored by the Board on a regular basis, but in no case shall 

the agreement be monitored less frequently than once per semester. If the Board determines that a 

student is not complying with the agreement, the Board shall notify the student, his/her 

parent/guardian and the high school equivalency program or program leading to the student's 

high school graduation that the agreement may be modified or suspended in 30 days. 

4. Upon a student's request and with the approval of the student's parent/guardian, any student who is 

17 years of age or over shall be excused from regular school attendance if the student began a 

program leading to a high school equivalency diploma in a secured correctional facility or a secured 

child caring institution and the student and his/her parent/guardian agree, in writing, that the student 

will continue to participate in the program. 

Prior to a student's admission to a program leading to the student's high school equivalency, the 

student, his/her parent/guardian, the Board and a representative of the agency providing the program 

shall enter into a written agreement. The agreement shall specify that the student is excused from

egular school attendance while he/she is enrolled in the program and making progress toward 

completion of the program, or successfully completes the program. If the agency providing the 

program determines the student is not making progress toward completion of the program, the 

agency shall notify the student and his/her parent/guardian that the agreement may be suspended 

within 30 days. If the agency suspends the agreement, the agency shall notify the student, his/her 

parent/guardian and the Board. 

5. Any student's parent/guardian, or the student if the parent/guardian is notified, may request the 

Board, in writing, to provide the student with program or curriculum modifications, including but 

not limited to: 

a. Modifications within the student's current academic program. 

b. A school work training or work study program. 

c. Enrollment in an alternative public school or program located in the District. 

d. Enrollment in any nonsectarian private school or program located in the District. 

e. Homebound study, including nonsectarian correspondence courses or other courses of study 

approved by the Board or nonsectarian tutoring provided by the school in which the student is 

enrolled. 

f. Enrollment in any public educational program located outside the District. 

Program and curriculum modifications shall be requested and approved in accordance with state 

law and established District procedures. Any decision made in response to the request for program 

or curriculum modifications shall be reviewed by the Board upon request of the student’s 

parent/guardian. The Board shall render its determination upon review, in writing, if requested by 

the student’s parent/guardian. 

C. UNEXCUSED ABSENCES/TRUANCY 

Students with unexcused absences shall be considered truant and shall be dealt with in accordance 

with the following procedures: 

1. Truancy - The school attendance officer shall notify the parent/guardian of a student who has 

been truant of the student’s truancy and direct the parent/guardian to return the student to school 

no later than the next day on which school is in session or to provide an excuse. “Truancy” 

means any absence for part or all of one or more school days during which the school has not 

been notified of the legal cause of such absence by the parent/guardian of the absent student, and 

also means intermittent attendance carried on for the purpose of defeating the intent of the 

compulsory attendance law. The truancy notification may be made by personal contact, mail or 

telephone call of which a written record is kept. Notice by personal contact or telephone call shall 

be attempted before notification by mail may be given. 

a. High school students with unexcused absences will be assigned to a supervised study 

program during school, before school, after school or on Saturday for the purpose of making 

up missed work from the unexcused absence(s). The time assigned will be determined by the 

high school administration and will have a direct relationship to the amount of time and 

amount of work missed. 

b. It is recommended that for any student who is truant, a meeting be held with the student’s 

parent(s)/guardian, building principal, counselor, teachers and/or others deemed appropriate. 

The purpose of the meeting will be to consider possible curriculum modifications, 

motivational techniques, evaluation including assessment for possible learning or social 

problems, or other intervention that might result in regular school attendance. If it is

determined that the family is in crisis and/or in need of counseling, then the school should 

provide said counseling or refer the family to the Ozaukee County Health and Family 

Services Department, Department of Community Programs, or other appropriate resource. 

School personnel should check with the parents/guardians within 48 hours to determine if the 

family has followed up on counseling. If not, the family should be aggressively encouraged to 

do so. 

c. If parents/guardians are uncooperative, the assistance of a Juvenile Court intake worker may 

be requested. The intake worker will send out a registered letter to the student’s 

parents/guardians explaining the legal consequences for failure to cooperate with the school 

regarding their student’s absenteeism. If parents/guardians fail to respond to the intake 

worker, a referral will be made to either the local police department or Ozaukee County 

Sheriff's Department for the issuance of a citation for contributing to truancy. 

2. Habitual Truancy 

a. A notice must be sent to the student’s parent or guardian by registered or certified mail when 

the student initially becomes a habitual truant. “Habitual truant” means a student who is 

absent from school without an acceptable excuse for part or all of five or more days on which 

school is held during a semester. The notice shall include the following: 

(1) A statement of the parent's/guardian's responsibility under state law to cause the student 

to attend school regularly. 

(2) A statement that the parent/guardian or student may request program or curriculum 

modifications for the student and that the student may be eligible for enrollment in a 

program for children at risk. 

(3) A request that the parent/guardian meet with appropriate school personnel to discuss the 

student's truancy. The notice must include the name of the school personnel with whom 

the parent/guardian should meet; a date, time and place for the meeting; and the name, 

address and telephone number of a person to contact to arrange a different date, time or 

place. The date for the meeting must be within five school days after the date that the 

habitual truancy notice has been sent to the student’s parent/guardian. With the consent of 

the student’s parent/guardian, however, the date for the meeting may be extended for an 

additional five school days. 

(4) A statement of the penalties that may be imposed under state law on the parent/guardian 

if he/she fails to cause the student to attend school regularly. 

b. School personnel must notify a truant student’s parent/guardian of any additional unexcused 

absences that occur after the required notice in item C-2(a). The same procedure listed under 

C-1 will be followed. 

c. Prior to any proceeding being brought against a student or against the student’s 

parent/guardian under the compulsory attendance law, the school attendance officer must 

provide evidence that appropriate school personnel have, within the school year during which 

the truancy occurred, done all of the following: 

(1) Met with the student's parent/guardian to discuss the student's truancy or attempted to 

meet with the student's parent/guardian and received no response or were refused. This 

requirement does not apply if the meeting with the parent/guardian is not held within 10 

school days after the date that the habitual truancy notice is sent. 

(2) Provided an opportunity for educational counseling to the student to determine whether a 

change in the student's curriculum would resolve the student's truancy, and have

considered curriculum modifications. 

(3) Evaluated the student to determine whether learning problems may be a cause of the 

student's truancy and, if so, have taken steps to overcome the learning problems. The 

student need not be evaluated if tests administered to the student within the previous year 

indicate that the student is performing at his/her grade level. 

(4) Conducted an evaluation to determine whether social problems may be a cause of the 

student's truancy and, if so, have taken appropriate action or made appropriate referrals. 

Items (2), (3) and (4) above do not apply if the school attendance officer provides evidence 

that appropriate school personnel were unable to carry out the activity due to the student's 

absences from school. 

If the steps outlined above have been followed, a legal referral may be made. 

d. A completed “Ozaukee County Truancy Referral” form and “Truant Student Profile” will be 

sent to the Ozaukee County Department of Health and Family Services. A copy of all forms 

will be kept by the school. The truancy referral will be handled as follows: 

(1) A juvenile court intake worker shall be assigned to handle the truancy referral. 

(2) If the referring school attendance officer has followed the procedures noted above, the 

intake worker will make either a referral for the issuance of a citation or a referral to the 

Corporation Counsel within five working days of being assigned. 

(3) If the Corporation Counsel believes the referral form is sufficiently completed, he/she 

will file a petition with Juvenile Court within five working days of receiving the referral. 

(4) A court hearing(s) will be held, with the following possible Juvenile Court dispositions: 

Counsel and release 

Consent decree with specific rules (6 months) 

Supervision with specific rules (12 months) 

Placement in alternate care (foster home, group home, institution) 

Participation in a counseling program 

Suspension of student’s operating privilege for not less than 30 nor more than 90 

days 

Participation in community service or supervised work 

Home detention 

Student ordered to attend a program for children at risk 

Student ordered to attend educational program pursuant to a contractual agreement 

with the District in which the student resides and a licensed child welfare agency, a 

private, non-profit non-sectarian agency or a vocational school located in the District 

in which the student resides. 

(5) The Court shall order the mutual disclosure of records between the school and the 

Department of Health and Family Services as is necessary to assure the provision of 

appropriate educational services. (A copy of this order will be sent to the building 

principal by the assigned intake worker.) 

(6) Once the Court imposes one of the aforementioned dispositions, the school attendance 

officer shall notify the student’s parents/guardians and the assigned social worker (as 

appropriate) within 24 hours of any subsequent unexcused absences by the student. 

(7) If a juvenile student continues to be truant in violation of the court order, the juvenile will 

be brought back to Court for imposition of one of the aforementioned dispositions and/or 

be given a warning for contempt of court.

D. CONTINUED INTERVENTIONS AFTER REFERRAL TO INTAKE 

If truancy continues to exist, the Ozaukee County Juvenile Court will assume responsibility for 

future interventions. 

CROSS REF.: 347-Rule, Guidelines for the Maintenance and Confidentiality of Student Records 

431, Student Attendance 

431-Exhibit, Notification of Habitual Truancy 

APPROVED IN PART: May 15, 1989 

REVISED: February 18, 1997 

August 26, 2004

Student Attendance/Truancy Procedures - Cedarburg School District

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