A new state law to address chronic absenteeism requires notifying parents by certified letter if a student misses school for eight days in a semester. After additional absences, there must be an in-person meeting with a parent or guardian.
The most recent data shows absenteeism is remarkably widespread in Iowa schools. “The levels of chronic absence tend to be highest in the high school level and then middle school and then elementary,” said Common Good Iowa executive director Anne Discher, “but there’s no doubt that even at the elementary level we’re seeing high levels of chronic absence.”
Continue reading “New law takes on chronic absenteeism in Iowa schools”
