The Grand Island Public Schools strongly advocates that regular attendance is essential for all students to obtain maximum opportunities from the education program. Parents and students alike are encouraged to ensure an absence from school is a necessary and unavoidable absence. This policy, developed in collaboration with the county attorney, is written to address the problem of excessive absenteeism.

The superintendent shall designate the building administrator as the attendance officer. The attendance officer will investigate the report of any child who may be in violation of the state’s compulsory attendance statutes.

Students who accumulate ten (10) absences in a semester which are Not Excused shall be deemed to have "Excessive Absences." Only those absences that are for a school sponsored activity will be considered Excused for this reporting purpose. Such absences shall be determined on a per day (or hourly equivalent) basis for elementary students and on per class basis for secondary students. Prior to the thenth absence, school staff will communicate with families about the importance of attending school regularly and employ various strategies to ensure student needs are being addressed. At the tenth day of unexcused absences the school shall render all services in its power to compel the student's attendance. These services include but are not limited to the following:

1. Verbal or written communication by school officials with the person or persons who have legal or actual charge or control of any child; and 
2. A meeting or meetings between the building administrator (school attendance officer) or designee, school social worker, school counselor and/or other school partners as needed, the student's parent/guardian and the student (if necessary) to develop a plan to solve the excessive absenteeism problem
   The collaborative plan shall include, if agreed to by the person who is responsible for making educational decisions on behalf of the child, an educational evaluation to determine whether any intellectual, academic, physical, or social-emotional barriers are contributing factors to the lack of attendance. The plan shall also consider but not be limited to:
   1. Physical, mental, or behavioral health of the child (verified by appropriate documentation);
   2. Educational counseling; and
   3. Investigation of the problem by appropriate school staff to identify conditions contributing to the excessive absenteeism problem including referral to community agencies for economic services, family or individual counseling and assisting the family in working with other community services. 

If the parent/guardian refuses to participate in such meeting, the refusal will be documented in the child’s attendance records.

The school may report to the county attorney of the county in which the person having control of the student resides when the school has documented the efforts to address excessive absences, the collaborative plan to reduce barriers identified to improve regular attendance has not been successful, and the student has accumulated more than twenty (20) absences per school year. The school shall notify the child’s family in writing prior to referring the child to the county attorney. Illness (including physical or mental illness) with appropriate documentation that makes attendance impossible or impracticable shall not be the basis for referral to the county attorney. A report to the county attorney may also be made when a student otherwise accrues excessive absences as herein defined.

The Grand Island Public schools will annually review this policy with the county attorney.

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