Unexcused Absences
Reasons that are not considered acceptable excuses for absenteeism from school include:
- Taking care of a sibling or parent
- Non-enrollment days
- Days the student is not in school due to changing schools
- Traveling out of town to visit relatives or vacationing with family
Consequences for excessive unexcused absences:
Parents are held accountable for unexcused absences, even if the child is 16 years old and skips class without the parent's knowledge.
A compulsory attendance notification will be sent to the parent if a student has unexcused absences on 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period or three days or parts of days without an excuse during a four-week period. Note that "parts of days" includes leaving school early or arriving after the first bell has rung, even if the child attended for some of the day.
The attendance warning letter gives the parent notice that the student has accumulated too many unexcused absences and gives the parent a chance to make corrections to the child's attendance record.
If corrections are not made, a court warning will notify the parent of the potential for a case to be filed in a justice or municipal court or for the student to be referred to juvenile court. Parents may be criminally charged or fined if their child has another unexcused absence.
90 Percent Rule:
In addition to the Compulsory Attendance Law, there is the "90 Percent Rule," which states that students must attend class for 90 percent of the time it is offered to receive credit for the class.
Please refer to Texas Education Agency Correspondence regarding the 90 Percent Rule for more information.