Attendance & Truancy

Englewood Schools works closely with students and families in order to ensure that all kids have the opportunity to learn. We believe that school attendance promotes both a sense of belonging to our school community as well as providing the best opportunity to thrive academically.

Colorado’s Compulsory School Attendance law frames our attendance policies. Students are expected to be in school a minimum number of hours per year, depending upon grade-level, in order to comply with the law. However, we understand that sometimes an absence is necessary.

Excused Absences: This type of absence must be approved by both the guardian and by the school. In some cases, documentation may be required.

Unexcused Absences: The principal of your child’s school will determine whether an absence may be excused. An accumulation of unexcused absences may lead to Englewood Schools filing a case against a student and their parents/guardians in the 18th Judicial District Arapahoe County Truancy Court.

Reporting Absences
Please refer to your child’s school’s website for specific expectations and procedures and access to Attendance Reporting Lines for each school.

Chronic Absence
Children gain the most benefit from school if they attend. Missing 10% of the school year for any reason, excused or unexcused, will have a detrimental effect on any child’s educational attainment. Research (here) shows that being chronically absent in the early grades can have far-reaching consequences, even predicting high school dropout.

Truancy
Englewood Schools works hard to prevent truancy filings. However, it is written into the Compulsory School Attendance law as a possible avenue in order to enforce attendance. Truancy is based on any 4 unexcused absences in a calendar month or any 10 unexcused absences in a school year. Truancy cases are filed with the 18th Judicial District Arapahoe County Truancy Court.

We want to work with students and families to identify barriers to attendance early and to provide resources to mitigate those issues. Counselors, teachers and administration are all available to meet with families, and we welcome that collaboration.

Englewood Board of Education policies:
JEA - Compulsory Attendance Ages
JH - School Absences and Excuses
JHB - Truancy


Revised 11.28.2018