Senate File 2435
Senate File 2435 was signed into law on May 9, 2024 with an effective date of July 1, 2024. SF2435 details public school attendance requirements. SF2435 requires specific school actions based on a student’s rate of non-exempt absences. Districts must adopt an attendance policy and, as necessary, collaborate with county attorneys, conduct school engagement meetings, and work with county truancy officers. Select exemptions are allowed at the student level. The SF2435 Summary for Schools provides a high-level summary on the legislation and required activities.
Attendance Coding Technical Assistance
Attendance coding decisions continue to be made on a local level. It will be the responsibility of building staff to accurately, consistently and objectively use exemptions when reliable and credible evidence exists. Appropriate use of exemptions will be vital to accurate coding and intervention practices to increase student attendance. The 2024-25 Attendance Coding technical assistance document is available to inform attendance decision making across Student Information Systems (SIS) at the local level.
Absenteeism Prevention Plan
Student engagement meetings are required when non-exempt student absences exceed 15% of scheduled school days or hours in a grading period. The purpose of the school engagement meeting is for the school, parent/guardian, and student to identify the barriers to attendance experienced by the child and the interventions that may be used to improve attendance. To support this team, the following two documents are provided. The first is a blank Absenteeism Prevention Plan template and the second is the same plan completed with a hypothetical student.