The research on Chronic Absenteeism is clear: Chronic Absenteeism is a primary cause of low academic achievement and a powerful predictor of those students who may eventually drop out of school. There is a clear and consistent relationship between early attendance and later achievement.

It is understood that life happens, that some challenges to your child’s school attendance are unavoidable, and a child is going to miss school - sick in bed with an illness, for a family obligation, a scheduled doctor / other health appointment during school hours, or a family emergency - hence occasional excused absences are expected. But what happens when the student is continually missing from the school environment, or when absences become a pattern? What happens when the student is late to school on a frequent, recurring basis? The negative impact can quickly add up. It may not seem like a big deal if a student is missing just one or two days of school a month, but over time, those days of lost learning can lead to years of academic struggles, as well as challenges beyond the classroom. When children in Kindergarten through 8th grade unlawfully miss excessive days of school, parents are held responsible, and a closer look must be taken to determine whether absence from school is a symptom of abuse and neglect that threatens the child's safety.

Educational Neglect: Chronic absenteeism, chronic tardiness and truancy are important to understand. Below are correlated descriptions as well as definitions related to Compulsory Attendance laws and educational neglect in New Mexico.

Chronic absenteeism: A student is considered chronically absent when missing 10% (or more) of the school year regardless of the reason (whether excused or unexcused).

Chronic tardiness: A student is considered chronically tardy when the tardy (absence) periods are repetitive, and they account for 20% or more of the total school days accrued to date.

Truancy: “Truant” … a student who has accumulated five unexcused absences within any twenty-day period.

“Habitual truant” … a student who has accumulated ten or more unexcused absences within a school year.

“Unexcused absence” is an absence from school or a class for which the student does not have an allowable excuse pursuant to the Compulsory School Attendance Laws or rules and policies of the governing authority of the local school board, or the governing authority of a private school learning experience.

RE: NEW MEXICO STATE LAW: The New Mexico Compulsory School Attendance Law (NMSA section 22-12-1); New Mexico requires that a parent or guardian must ensure that their child is in school the full time school is in session, unless otherwise legally excused pursuant to NMSA Compulsory School Attendance Law (22-12-1 to 22-12-7 NMSA 1978). Failure to comply with the law may result in: a fine, possible jail sentence, or both.

“Educational neglect” falls under the umbrella of child abuse and neglect with the State of New Mexico delineation (2006 New Mexico Statutes – Section 32A-4-2-E (2) “E … “neglected child means a child; (2) who is without proper parental care and control or subsistence, education, or medical or other care or control necessary for the child’s wellbeing because of the faults or habits of the child’s parent, guardian or custodian or the failure or refusal of the parent, guardian or custodian when able to do so to provide for them.”

The following steps outline the process and procedures administered by the Rio Rancho Public School District Attendance for Success Program in the enforcement of attendance laws.

General Description

The Rio Rancho Public Schools Attendance for Success and Truancy Prevention Program recognizes that every student has the potential to learn and succeed and that there is always an opportunity to change. Regular class attendance by school age persons at all grade levels is an essential component of the learning process, the development of self-discipline and preparation for post-secondary training, education and employment. It is also a requirement of the New Mexico Attendance for Success Act, NMSA §§22-12A-1, et seq. (2019).

The Attendance for Success plan is a tiered data-informed system for public schools and school districts to identify students who are chronically or excessively absent and to aid public schools in developing whole-school prevention strategies and targeted interventions.

The following is RRPS’s Attendance for Success, Intervention and truancy protocol and follows the guidance in Attendance for Success Policy 1000 and Policy 1002 Progressive Interventions for Absent Students:

At 3 days – unexcused absences:

a. Notices of a student’s unexcused absences will be provided to the parent in accordance with the Law.

b.When a student accumulates three unexcused absences, school personnel (teacher, counselor, principal, assistant principal, attendance clerk etc.) will contact the family via a phone call to notify the parent(s)/ guardian(s) of student attendance status. School personnel must note and log this activity in PowerSchool and make any notation(s) deemed necessary.

c. School personnel facilitating this contact then communicates to the school administrator assigned to address attendance / truancy at the school.

d. A 3-Day Absentee Notification letter will be generated and emailed to the parent or guardian’s email address listed in PowerSchool.

At 5 days – unexcused absences:

a. Notices of a student’s unexcused absences will be provided to the parent in accordance with the Law.

b. When a student accumulates five unexcused absences, school personnel (teacher, counselor, principal, assistant principal, attendance clerk) will contact the family via a phone call to notify the parent(s)/guardian(s) of student attendance status. School personnel must note and log this activity in PowerSchool and make any notation(s) deemed necessary.

c. School personnel facilitating the contact then communicates to the school administrator assigned to address attendance / truancy at the school.

d. A 5-Day Absentee Notification letter will be generated and emailed to the parent or guardian’s email address listed in PowerSchool.

e. A Student Success Plan or Student Development plan will be implemented and signed. The plan will attempt to improve attendance by talking to a student and parent to identify barriers to school attendance, identify solutions to improve the student’s attendance behavior and discuss necessary interventions for the student or the student’s family. This plan and contract must be between the student, parent(s)/guardian(s), and school administration (principal, assistant principal or other assigned personnel as assigned by school administration –i.e., counselor, social worker, etc.

At 7 days – unexcused absences:

a. Notices of a student’s unexcused absences will be provided to the parent in accordance with the Law.

b.When a student accumulates seven unexcused absences, school personnel (teacher, counselor, principal, assistant principal, attendance clerk) will contact the family via a phone call to notify the parent(s)/guardian(s) of student attendance status. School personnel must note and log this activity in PowerSchool and make any notation(s) deemed necessary.

c. School personnel facilitating this contact then communicates to the school administrator assigned to address attendance / truancy at the school.

d.A 7-Day Absentee Notification letter will be generated and emailed to the parent or guardian’s email address listed in PowerSchool. The school may also choose to mail the letter to the home address of the student.

e. The Student Success Plan and contract will be reviewed with the student and parent.

At 10 days – unexcused absences:

a. Notices of a student’s unexcused absences will be provided to the parent in accordance with the Law.

b. When a student accumulates 10 consecutive, unexcused absences, school personnel (teacher, counselor, principal, assistant principal) will contact the family via a phone call to notify the parent(s)/guardian(s) of student attendance status. School personnel must note and log this activity in PowerSchool and make any notation(s) deemed necessary.

b. School personnel facilitating this contact then communicates to the school administrator assigned to address attendance / truancy at the school.

c. At this juncture, a 10-Day Absentee Notification letter will be generated. The letter will be signed by school administration and mailed or hand delivered to the home address of the student. The ten-day letter will state the student will be disenrolled when the student reaches 10 consecutive days of unexcused absences.

Unexcused absences exceeding 10 days:

a. An “Absentee Truancy Packet” may be assembled and completed at this point. Once the packet is completed, administration will contact Student Services Director or Executive Director to review the packet to confirm that all mandated documents accompany the packet, including a chronological itinerary of interventions with parent(s)/guardian(s) and student of concern. The 10-Day Absentee packet will then be hand-delivered to the Juvenile Probation and Parole (Rio Rancho) and the District Attorney’s Office (Sandoval County).

b. If a student continues to accrue unexcused absences, exceeding the 10-day UNEXCUSED absence parameter set by the Compulsory School Attendance law for truancy, school personnel will log the non-attendance in PowerSchool, and then notify the registrar to drop the student for non-attendance.

These processes and procedures shall be used in accordance with District Board Policies, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and all laws.

Chronic Tardiness: Equally important to improving academic achievement is the development of non-cognitive skills such as being on time. The most crucial learning hours of a school day are the morning hours, because they are when the students are most attentive. One of the most important aspects of school is that it is structured: organized, scheduled, predictable. Students depend on this. They know the main purpose for being in school is to learn, and that routines are in place precisely to help them focus on that learning. When a student is chronically tardy, these routines are disrupted. It is very difficult for this child to get organized and ready for the school day, since the teacher not only must interrupt instruction and routines to help the student catch up, but must also disrupt all others in the classroom who are already focused on learning activities for the day.