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Attendance (JB) and Tardies-Late to School (JBD)

Louisiana’s compulsory attendance laws require 5-year-olds (by September 30th) to enter kindergarten and attend school until age 18. If a child enrolls into SMP later than mandated without evidence of having attended any other instructional program, the Office of Child Welfare and Attendance must refer the parent to the proper court.

Students are expected to attend school regularly and to be on time. Students who are consistently late for school in the morning or who have excessive absences are considered truant. There are serious consequences for truancy.

  • Students in grades K-8 who accumulate more than 10 unexcused absences will not be promoted to the next grade.
  • High-school students on block schedule who accumulate more than 6 unexcused absences within a course fail the course.
  • Absences may be excused with proper documentation (doctor’s note, a court-issued excuse, etc.).
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  • Parents/legal guardians shall enforce school attendance for their child. Until the student has caught up with his or her schoolwork, the parent/legal guardian shall ensure that the student makes up missed schoolwork by attending afterschool tutoring sessions, weekend make-up classes, or other remediation opportunities, as determined by the School District. The parents/legal guardians shall also attend meetings at the school on at least a monthly basis relative to the student’s progress until the student has caught up on his or her missed schoolwork and until instructional time has been recovered. The principal or designee of each school shall note any concerns that school personnel have relative to a child’s school attendance on Supplemental Security Income forms that the school receives relative to that child (RS 17:233).
  • District Truancy Support Panel (TSP)
  • The Truancy Support Panel supports schools and families with available interventions to prevent students from becoming truant. JTexts and emails go out daily from the district notifying parents and students of unexcused absences on absence 3, 5, 10, and 10+. Upon 7 unexcused absences, a truancy hearing with TSP is scheduled. At the hearing, parents/legal guardians are given the opportunity to explain the excessive unexcused absences. TSP will also review school truancy interventions, discuss the Family Truancy Agreement, review Compulsory Attendance and Truancy Laws of Louisiana, and provide parents and students with signed copies of each. Non-attendance failure and attendance requirements for grade promotion or course credit will be discussed as well. After the truancy hearing, if the student’s absences continue, on absence 10, a FINS referral will be submitted to the proper court.