This document addresses intervention systems to address chronic absenteeism

(A) For purposes of this rule “Parent” means “parent”, “guardian,” or “other person having charge or care of a child” as defined in section 3321.01 of the Revised Code. (B) When an educational program has been established under division (B) of section 3321.19 of the Revised Code, the program shall address the following topics: (1) Compulsory school laws, including sections 3321.01, 3321.02, 3321.03, and 3321.04 of the Revised Code; (2) Overview of school opportunities and options including positive approaches for addressing the identified social, emotional, and academic needs of the student; (3) Impacts of frequent absences on college and workforce readiness; and, (4) Other topics determined necessary by the district in collaboration with community partners. (C) If the local board of education adopts an education program, it shall be reviewed at least every five years by such body. (D) For the sole purpose of developing the education program, the local board of education shall establish an education program committee. Committee members may include, but are not limited to, a parent, a member of the board of education, a member of the local juvenile judicial system, a guidance counselor, a school psychologist, an attendance officer, a teacher, a principal, or a superintendent. (E) When determining whether a parent of a student who is habitually truant, as that term is defined in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code, should be referred to an education program, consideration shall be given to the student’s academic record, discipline record, and cooperation of the parent.

(A) The board of education of a city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district may adopt a policy requiring the parent or guardian of any student who is suspended or expelled by the district under section 3313.66 of the Revised Code to attend a parental education or training program provided by the district. (B) The board of education of a city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district may adopt a policy requiring the parent or guardian of any student of the district who is truant or habitually absent from school to attend a parental education or training program provided by the district. The policy shall specify what constitutes truancy and habitual absence for purposes of the policy. (C) If a board of education adopts a policy under this section, the board shall post the policy in a central location in each school building of the district and make it available to students and their parents or guardians upon request.

(A) (1) Within one hundred twenty minutes after the beginning of each school day, the attendance officer, attendance officer’s assistant for each individual school building, or other person the attendance officer designates to take attendance for each school building shall make at least one attempt to contact, in accordance with division (A)(2) of this section, the parent, guardian, or other person having care of any student who was absent without legitimate excuse from the school the student is required to attend as of the beginning of that school day. (2) An attempt to contact a student’s parent, guardian, or other person having care of the student shall be made through one of the following methods: (a) A telephone call placed in person; (b) An automated telephone call via a system that includes verification that each call was actually placed, and either the call was answered by its intended recipient or a voice mail message was left by the automated system relaying the required information; (c) A notification sent through the school’s automated student information system; (d) A text-based communication sent to the parent’s, guardian’s, or other person’s electronic wireless communications device, as defined in division (G)(1) of section 4511.204 of the Revised Code; (e) A notification sent to the electronic mail address of the parent, guardian, or other person; (f) A visit, in person, to the student’s residence of record; (g) Any other notification procedure that has been adopted by resolution of the board of education of a school district. (B) If the parent, guardian, or other person having care of a student initiates a telephone call or other communication notifying the school or building administration of the student’s excused or unexcused absence within one hundred twenty minutes after the beginning of the school day, the school is under no further obligation with respect to the requirement prescribed in division (A) of this section.

(A) An attendance officer or assistant provided for by section 3321.14 or 3321.15 of the Revised Code may investigate any case of nonattendance at school or part-time school of a child under eighteen years of age or supposed to be under eighteen years of age resident in the district for which such attendance officer or assistant is employed, or of any such child found in the district or enrolled in any school within the district and of any child above eighteen years of age if enrolled in any school within the district, and may take such action as the superintendent of schools directs or as such attendance officer or assistant deems proper in the absence of specific direction. (B) (1) Subject to divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section, the attendance officer shall file a complaint in the juvenile court against a student on the sixty-first day after the implementation of an absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies, provided that all of the following apply: (a) The student was absent without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty or more consecutive hours, forty-two or more hours in one school month, or seventy-two or more hours in a school year. (b) The school district or school has made meaningful attempts to re-engage the student through the absence intervention plan, other intervention strategies, and any offered alternatives to adjudication described under division (C)(2)(b) of section 3321.191 of the Revised Code. (c) The student has refused to participate in or failed to make satisfactory progress on the plan, as determined by the absence intervention team, or any offered intervention strategies or alternative to adjudication. (2) If the student, at any time during the implementation phase of the absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies, is absent without legitimate excuse for thirty or more consecutive hours or forty-two or more hours in one school month, the attendance officer shall file a complaint in juvenile court against that student, unless the absence intervention team has determined that the student has made substantial progress on the absence intervention plan. (3) In the event that the sixty-first day after the implementation of the absence intervention plan or other intervention strategies falls on a day during the summer months, in the school district’s discretion, the absence intervention team or the attendance officer may extend the implementation of the plan and delay the filing of the complaint for an additional thirty days from the first day of instruction of the next school year.

The attendance officer provided for by section 3321.14 or 3321.15 of the Revised Code shall institute proceedings against any officer, parent, guardian, or other person violating laws relating to compulsory education and the employment of minors, and otherwise discharge the duties described in sections 3321.14 to 3321.21 of the Revised Code, and perform any other service that the superintendent of schools or board of education of the district by which the attendance officer is employed considers necessary to preserve the morals and secure the good conduct of school children, and to enforce those laws. The attendance officer shall be furnished with copies of the enumeration in each school district in which the attendance officer serves and of the lists of pupils enrolled in the schools and shall report to the superintendent discrepancies between these lists and the enumeration. The attendance officer and assistants shall cooperate with the director of commerce in enforcing the laws relating to the employment of minors. The attendance officer shall furnish upon request any data that the attendance officer and the attendance officer’s assistants have collected in their reports of children from six to eighteen years of age and also concerning employers to the director and upon request to the state board of education. The attendance officer shall keep a record of the attendance officer’s transactions for the inspection and information of the superintendent of schools and the board of education; and shall make reports to the superintendent of schools as often as required by the superintendent. The state board of education may prescribe forms for the use of attendance officers in the performance of their duties. The blank forms and record books or indexes shall be furnished to the attendance officers by the boards of education by which they are employed.

(A) As used in this section and section 3321.191 of the Revised Code, “habitual truant” has the same meaning as in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code. (B) When a board of education of any city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district or the governing board of any educational service center determines that a student in its district has been truant and the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child has failed to cause the student’s attendance at school, the board may require the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child pursuant to division (B) of this section to attend an educational program established pursuant to rules adopted by the state board of education for the purpose of encouraging parental involvement in compelling the attendance of the child at school. No parent, guardian, or other person having care of a child shall fail without good cause to attend an educational program described in this division if the parent, guardian, or other person has been served notice pursuant to division (C) of this section. (C) On the request of the superintendent of schools, the superintendent of any educational service center, the board of education of any city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district, or the governing board of any educational service center or when it otherwise comes to the notice of the attendance officer or other appropriate officer of the school district, the attendance officer or other appropriate officer shall examine into any case of supposed truancy within the district and shall warn the child, if found truant, and the child’s parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child, in writing, of the legal consequences of being truant. When any child of compulsory school age, in violation of law, is not attending school, the attendance or other appropriate officer shall notify the parent, guardian, or other person having care of that child of the fact, and require the parent, guardian, or other person to cause the child to attend school immediately. The parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child shall cause the child’s attendance at school. Upon the failure of the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child to do so, the attendance officer or other appropriate officer, if so directed by the superintendent, the district board, or the educational service center governing board, shall send notice requiring the attendance of that parent, guardian, or other person at a parental education program established pursuant to division (B) of this section and, subject to divisions (D) and (E) of this section, may file a complaint against the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child in any court of competent jurisdiction. (D) (1) Upon the failure of the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child to cause the child’s attendance at school, if the child is considered an habitual truant, the board of education of the school district or the governing board of the educational service center, within ten days, subject to division (E) of this section, shall assign the student to an absence intervention team as described in division (C) of section 3321.191 of the Revised Code. (2) The attendance officer shall file a complaint in the juvenile court of the county in which the child has a residence or legal settlement or in which the child is supposed to attend school jointly against the child and the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child, in accordance with the timelines and conditions set forth in division (B) of section 3321.16 of the Revised Code. A complaint filed in the juvenile court under this division shall allege that the child is an unruly child for being an habitual truant and that the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child has violated section 3321.38 of the Revised Code. (E) A school district with a chronic absenteeism percentage that is less than five per cent, as displayed on the district’s most recent report card issued under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code, and the school buildings within that district, shall be exempt from the requirement to assign habitually truant students to an absence intervention team for the following school year and shall instead take any appropriate action as an intervention strategy contained in the policy developed by the district board pursuant to divisions (A) and (B) of section 3321.191 of the Revised Code. In the event that those intervention strategies fail, within sixty-one days after their implementation, the attendance officer shall file a complaint, provided that the conditions described in division (B) of section 3321.16 of the Revised Code are satisfied.

(A) Effective beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, the board of education of each city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, and cooperative education school district and the governing board of each educational service center shall adopt a new or amended policy to guide employees of the school district or service center in addressing and ameliorating student absences. In developing the policy, the appropriate board shall consult with the judge of the juvenile court of the county or counties in which the district or service center is located, with the parents, guardians, or other persons having care of the pupils attending school in the district, and with appropriate state and local agencies. (B) The policy developed under division (A) of this section shall include as an intervention strategy all of the following actions, if applicable: (1) Providing a truancy intervention plan for any student who is excessively absent from school, as described in the first paragraph of division (C) of this section; (2) Providing counseling for an habitual truant; (3) Requesting or requiring a parent, guardian, or other person having care of an habitual truant to attend parental involvement programs, including programs adopted under section 3313.472 or 3313.663 of the Revised Code; (4) Requesting or requiring a parent, guardian, or other person having care of an habitual truant to attend truancy prevention mediation programs; (5) Notification of the registrar of motor vehicles under section 3321.13 of the Revised Code; (6) Taking legal action under section 2919.222, 3321.20, or 3321.38 of the Revised Code. (C) (1) In the event that a child of compulsory school age is absent with a nonmedical excuse or without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty-eight or more hours in one school month, or sixty-five or more hours in a school year, the attendance officer of that school shall notify the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian of the child’s absences, in writing, within seven days after the date after the absence that triggered the notice requirement. At the time notice is given, the school also may take any appropriate action as an intervention strategy contained in the policy developed by the board pursuant to division (A) of this section. (2) (a) If the absences of a student surpass the threshold for an habitual truant as set forth in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code, the principal or chief administrator of the school or the superintendent of the school district shall assign the student to an absence intervention team. Within fourteen school days after the assignment of a student to an absence intervention team, the team shall develop an intervention plan for that student in an effort to reduce or eliminate further absences. Each intervention plan shall vary based on the individual needs of the student, but the plan shall state that the attendance officer shall file a complaint not later than sixty-one days after the date the plan was implemented, if the child has refused to participate in, or failed to make satisfactory progress on, the intervention plan or an alternative to adjudication under division (C)(2)(b) of section 3321.191 of the Revised Code. Within seven days after the development of the plan, the school district or school shall make reasonable efforts to provide the student’s parent, guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian with written notice of the plan. (b) As part of the absence intervention plan described in division (C)(2) of this section, the school district or school, in its discretion, may contact the appropriate juvenile court and ask to have a student informally enrolled in any alternative to adjudication described in division (G) of section 2151.27 of the Revised Code. If the school district or school chooses to have students informally enrolled in an alternative to adjudication, the school district or school shall develop a written policy regarding the use of, and selection process for, offering alternatives to adjudication to ensure fairness. (c) The superintendent of each school district, or the superintendent’s designee, shall establish an absence intervention team for the district to be used by any schools of the district that do not establish their own absence intervention team as permitted under division (C)(2)(d) of this section. Membership of each absence intervention team may vary based on the needs of each individual student but shall include a representative from the child’s school district or school, another representative from the child’s school district or school who knows the child, and the child’s parent or parent’s designee, or the child’s guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian. The team also may include a school psychologist, counselor, social worker, or representative of a public or nonprofit agency designed to assist students and their families in reducing absences. (d) The principal or chief administrator of each school may establish an absence intervention team or series of teams to be used in lieu of the district team established pursuant to division (C)(2)(c) of this section. Membership of each absence intervention team may vary based on the needs of each individual student but shall include a representative from the child’s school district or school, another representative from the child’s school district or school who knows the child, and the child’s parent or parent’s designee, or the child’s guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian. The team also may include a school psychologist, counselor, social worker, or representative of a public or nonprofit agency designed to assist students and their families in reducing absences. (e) A superintendent, as described in division (C)(2)(c) of this section, or principal or chief administrator, as described in division (C)(2)(d) of this section, shall select the members of an absence intervention team within seven school days of the triggering event described in division (C)(2)(a) of this section. The superintendent, principal, or chief administrator, within the same period of seven school days, shall make at least three meaningful, good faith attempts to secure the participation of the student’s parent, guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian on that team. If the student’s parent responds to any of those attempts, but is unable to participate for any reason, the representative of the school district shall inform the parent of the parent’s right to appear by designee. If seven school days elapse and the student’s parent, guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian fails to respond to the attempts to secure participation, the school district or school shall do both of the following: (i) Investigate whether the failure to respond triggers mandatory reporting to the public children services agency for the county in which the child resides in the manner described in section 2151.421 of the Revised Code; (ii) Instruct the absence intervention team to develop an intervention plan for the child notwithstanding the absence of the child’s parent, guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian. (f) In the event that a student becomes habitually truant within twenty-one school days prior to the last day of instruction of a school year, the school district or school may, in its discretion, assign one school official to work with the child’s parent, guardian, custodian, guardian ad litem, or temporary custodian to develop an absence intervention plan during the summer. If the school district or school selects this method, the plan shall be implemented not later than seven days prior to the first day of instruction of the next school year. In the alternative, the school district or school may toll the time periods to accommodate for the summer months and reconvene the absence intervention process upon the first day of instruction of the next school year. (3) For purposes of divisions (C)(2)(c) and (d) of this section, the state board of education shall develop a format for parental permission to ensure compliance with the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974,” 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended, and any regulations promulgated under that act, and section 3319.321 of the Revised Code. (D) Each school district or school may consult or partner with public and nonprofit agencies to provide assistance as appropriate to students and their families in reducing absences. (E) Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, each school district shall report to the department of education, as soon as practicable, and in a format and manner determined by the department, any of the following occurrences: (1) When a notice required by division (C)(1) of this section is submitted to a parent, guardian, or custodian; (2) When a child of compulsory school age has been absent without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for thirty or more consecutive hours, forty-two or more hours in one school month, or seventy-two or more hours in a school year; (3) When a child of compulsory school age who has been adjudicated an unruly child for being an habitual truant violates the court order regarding that adjudication; (4) When an absence intervention plan has been implemented for a child under this section. (F) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the duty or authority of a district board of education or governing body of an educational service center to develop other policies related to truancy or to limit the duty or authority of any employee of the school district or service center to respond to pupil truancy. However, a board shall be subject to the prohibition against suspending, expelling, or otherwise preventing a student from attending school for excessive absences as prescribed by section 3313.668 of the Revised Code.

This document addresses intervention systems to address chronic absenteeism