Truancy

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Everyone has days when they don’t feel like going to school. Sometimes they pretend to be sick and sometimes they make plans to meet up with friends or go somewhere alone for the day.

Schools and police call this truancy. Most kids never do it, and schools have strict rules to stop truancy, not because they want to catch kids out but because they want to keep kids safe and help them to make the most of their chance to learn.

What is an unexcused absence? Any absence that is not excused make the student truant. Excused absences include:

• Illness
• A medical appointment that must be made during the school day
• A family emergency
• A planned absence for a personal or educational purpose that has been approved by the school
• Educational disruption caused by a student’s homelessness, unplanned hospitalization, or placement in foster care or a youth development center

If a parent doesn’t make sure his/her child attends school regularly, they may have to go to court to be punished by the judge.