Truancy is defined by the state of Kansas as multiple unexcused absences for a significant part of the school day.

“From our district, they say a significant part of the day is 15 minutes, because it is a significant part of an hour,” Vice Principal Tom Albers said. “If you miss over 15, it is marked unexcused. If you show up within the 15, you are just tardy.”

A student would be considered truant if they had three unexcused absences in a row, five in a semester, or seven through the whole year. It does not reset Albers said.

“Of course, we have common sense,” Albers said. “If there were a few instances where they were just 20 minutes late, we would have a discussion with that student. Ultimately, we would say it wasn’t as big of a deal.”

Albers said if a student continually leaves school without an excuse to be gone, they may also become truant.

“What happens then is we have to file a letter to the parents of the student and we also send it to the court,” Albers said. “The court system takes over from there.”

The administrators do not determine whether there is a hearing for the student, although most of the time they do Albers said.

The administrators would send the attendance information to the court, and they may understand that the student has not missed a lot.

“Still, not getting to school in the morning is not a valid excuse,” Albers said. “A lot of times we will want to bring the student and parent in to figure out the reasoning behind that.”

20ahillebrand@usd489.com