For any student that misses a significant amount of school, including for COVID related absences, the school wants to assist the student and family with a plan to continue academic progress. The state defines "Chronic Absenteesm" is when a student misses 20 or more days, regardless of excused or unexcused status*, in an academic year. Averaged out, this would be missing two or more days every month. Our biggest concern is for students who are on a path to meet this point much earlier in the school year and are missing one or more days every week. The district seeks to be proactive about addressing school performance related to attendance rather than being reactive.
* Absences for school-related activities and athletics are not included.
To help illustrate the concern, let's look at two examples.
Example 1. The Family Vacation.
Many families in Ouray own businesses, and typical school breaks, particularly spring break, align with busy seasons for tourists. In many cases, the family decides to find additional time to take their child(ren) out of school and spend quality time together traveling or visiting family. In a hypothetical case, a student might miss five days for this family outing and then miss 5-7 days throughout the year for illness.
Is this a problem that we are concerned about? ANSWER: No. The student will not meet the definition of "Chronic Absenteeism" and will be supported by communication before and after the absence.
Example 2. Where's Martina?
A hypothetical student, Martina, started missing school during the first week. Martina was often late to school when she did attend. By mid October, she had already missed eight days of school and was showing signs of being behind in her reading skills. If the trend continued, she would miss more than 32 days of school for the year.
Is this a problem that we are concerned about? ANSWER: Yes, and it is a present concern in Ouray. The student will make the definition of "Chronic Absenteeism" and would be required by the state to be on an academic plan. If the family requested a prearranged absence for non-emergency reasons, the school would not approve the absence.
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