BVSD’s new attendance policy is here. What students and parents need to know

As students return to class, they will be greeted by a new attendance policy.

In May, the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education passed an update to Board Policy JH - Student Absences and Excuses. The goal was to align attendance practices across the district, reduce punitive punishments and encourage students to attend and engage fully in their learning.

“An important part of this policy revision is to create a high degree of consistency from teacher to teacher, and school to school, across this district,” explained BVSD Board President Nicole Rajpal. “We know that when students miss school they miss opportunities for learning and social interaction, both of which can have lasting consequences. One goal of our policy revision is to encourage students to attend school more often, to consistently spend more time in each class, and incentivize them to turn in missed work when absences are necessary.”

Key new takeaways for parents include:

• Tardy at the secondary level is now defined as five minutes or less district-wide (previously it varied by school)
• Students arriving after 5 minutes post-bell will be marked a with a partial absence
• Clarification of excused versus unexcused absences and the new partial absence
• Schools are encouraged to use restorative practices rather than academic penalties for truancy and extended absences

Importance of attendance for students

Regular and punctual attendance is one of the more important factors that determines academic and post-secondary success in students. Research indicates that when students miss school a lot (an absenteeism rate of 10% -- one out of ten days -- or more) they struggle more academically and potentially drop out of school.

Parents and teachers play an important role in supporting student attendance and engagement to set them up for successful future academic outcomes.

Top ways parents can support student attendance

1. Help your child understand the importance of attending school daily
2. Prioritize great attendance by setting norms, such as creating daily routines, reducing screen time in the evening, and a reasonable bedtime
3. Be diligent in monitoring your student’s attendance

Policy revisions
An extensive task force process produced proposed revisions to the existing student absence and excuses policy along with input from the Board of Education, resulting in the following changes:

• Incorporated clear definitions, such as tardy is defined as five minutes for secondary students
• Established requirement for regular attendance taking in all schools
• Clarified excused versus unexcused absences
• Added partial absence as an attendance category meaning a secondary student arriving more than 5 minutes after the start time or departing more than five minutes before end time. Or an elementary student arriving more than 60 minutes after the start time or departing more than 60 minutes before the end of the day.
• Streamlined information on missed/make up work and limited academic penalties
• Removed single period absence special documentation requirements
• Required intervention processes aligned with MTSS
• Collapsed policy and regulation into just one policy

The process
In August the Board asked district leadership to propose changes to policy JH that are consistent and equitable while also supporting high levels of attendance at school.

A 23-person Attendance Policy Revision Task Force was created and was composed of:

• Teachers
• Counselors
• Parents
• Attendance advocates
• Principals and assistant principals
• BVEA and BVSD leadership

The task force was asked to review the existing policy, understand the current realities of attendance in BVSD, including feedback from attendance staff and school leaders. They were responsible for suggesting revisions to JH and JH-R, incorporating input gathered from the following representatives groups:

• Teacher Advisory Council
• BVEA Association Representatives
• District Advisory Council
• District Parent Council
• Principal Advisory Committee
• Latino Parent Council
• District Counselor Advisory Committee

For more information, view the approved policy online at Board Policy JH - Student Absences and Excuses, and watch the board discussion recordings in the videos linked below: