Attendance & Truancy

We know that there are a wide range of reasons that students are absent from school, from health concerns to transportation challenges.  Whatever the reason, our staff are prepared to help with the challenges and getting your student to school regularly and on-time.

State Law requires that we track attendance daily, to notice when your student is missing from class, communicate with you to understand why they were absent, and to identify barriers and supports available to overcome challenges facing you and your student. 

It is important that you understand both our school policy and procedure, and Washington State Law, to ensure your child is successful in school. State law for mandatory attendance, called the Becca Bill, requires children from age eight to 18 to attend a public school, private school, or a district-approved home school program. If a parent enrolls a child who is six or seven years of age in a public school, the child is required to attend school. The child's parent / guardian has the responsibility to ensure the child attends for the full time school is in session. An exception may be made to this requirement for children whose parents / guardians formally remove them from enrollment if the child is less than eight years old and a petition for truancy has not been filed against the parent. RCW 28A.225.015

The BECCA Law, established in 1995, requires that a student has no more than seven (7) unexcused absences in a month or fifteen (15) during a school year.  Originally, the law covered 8-18-year-old youth but was expanded in July 1999 to include parents of 6 and 7-year-olds. In February 2012, the upper age was reduced to 17. 

If a student meets this criterion, the district or the student’s home school, is mandated to file a truancy petition with the Juvenile Court.  If the student does not return to school or has even one more unexcused absence, the district and/or school building will refer the student to the Community Engagement Board.

In 1993, a 13-year-old runaway named Rebecca Hedman (BECCA) was murdered in Spokane, far from her home in Tacoma.  In 1995, a group of parents and legislators came together and successfully pushed for and passed legislation to prevent situations like this from happening again.  The so-called “BECCA Bill” addresses several areas of public policy, including those affecting truant, at-risk, and runaway youth.

All youth between the ages of 8-18 are required to attend school every day.  When these youth fail to attend their assigned schools, they are considered truant.

An at-risk youth is defined by statute as a child under the age of 18 who meets at least one of the following three requirements:

• Is absent from home for at least 72 consecutive hours without parental consent.
• Is beyond parental control such that the child’s behavior endangers the health, safety or welfare of the child or any other person.
• Has a substance abuse problem for which there are no pending criminal charges relating to the substance abuse.

The purpose of the At-Risk Youth program is to allow parents a process in which they can request and receive assistance and support from the court in maintaining the care, custody and control of their child.

A child in need of services is defined by statute as a child under the age of 18 who meets at least one of the following three requirements:

• Is beyond parental control such that the child’s behavior endangers the health, safety, or welfare of the child or other person.
• Has been reported to law enforcement as absent without consent for at least 24 consecutive hours from the parent’s home, a crisis residential center, an out-of-home placement, or a court-ordered placement on two or more separate occasions and has exhibited a serious substance abuse problem or behaviors that create a serious risk of hard to the health, safety or welfare of the child or any other person.
• Is in need of necessary services, including food, shelter, health care, clothing, educational, or services designed to maintain or reunite the family and lacks access to or has declined to utilize these services, and who parents have evidenced continuing but unsuccessful efforts to maintain the family structure or are unable or unwilling to continue efforts to maintain the family structure.

The purpose of CHINS is to get a court order requiring temporary placement (for up to nine months) of a child in a residence other than the home of his/her parent. The need for placement must be based on a serious conflict between the parent and the child and cannot be resolved as long as the child remains at home.  A child, parent or Department of Children Youth and Families may file a CHINS petition.

Children, ages six to 13 need 9 to 11 hours of sleep every night. Teens need eight to 10 hours.

Inadequate sleep can lead to:

• Mood swings
• Behavioral problems
• Exacerbated symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or misdiagnoses of ADHD
• Problems with learning
• Illness            

Help your child achieve the sleep hours they need by:

• Minimizing activities that involve bright lights, excitement or stress in the hour before bedtime:
  • Exercise
  • Playing video games
  • Using cell phones
  • Watching television (watching television near bedtime has been associated with bedtime resistance, difficulty falling asleep, anxiety around sleep, and sleeping fewer hours.)
  • Restrict cell phones and other electronic devices from your child’s bedroom during sleeping hours. For example, have a charging station in your room where all electronic devices charge at night. (This is important for sleep as well as for reducing cyberbullying and other concerns that can come with unsupervised technology use.)
• Keeping a regular and consistent sleep schedule and bedtime routine, even on weekends.
• Making your child’s bedroom conductive to sleep. Keep it dark, cool and quiet.
• Making sure your child avoids caffeine throughout the day and especially after midday.
• Making sure your child avoids large meals before bedtime.

Most people experience anxiety or stress at one time or another. However, high levels of anxiety or stress can have negative effects, including:

• Absenteeism
• Physical illness
• Struggles in school

Note: If your child has significant and ongoing struggles with anxious thoughts and feelings please consider discussing this situation with your doctor, the school counselor or another health professional to determine if additional supports are warranted.

Tips to help your child manage anxiety or combat a stressful situation:

1. Work with your child to identify and write down times and places that trigger anxious feelings. Also, identify physiological changes that result from anxiety. Have the child reflect on times when they felt anxious, and identify if any of the following occurred:
   • Sweating
   • Feeling shaky
   • Increased heartbeat
   • Tension in certain parts of the body
   • If your child is unable to identify anxiety triggers or symptoms, it may be helpful for them to write in a journal whenever anxious feelings occur. Work together to look for a pattern across time.
2. Teach and practice relaxation techniques with your child. Model and talk aloud as you initially demonstrate a technique. Then have your child practice with you. As your child demonstrates the ability to perform the technique with ease, encourage them to think about an anxiety-producing situation while practicing the technique. Find times each evening to practice one or more of the following relaxation techniques:
   1. Deep Breathing. Have your child sit with a straight back or lie down. Have them breathe normally and notice how a normal breath feels. Demonstrate and then have your child practice breathing deeply, inhaling through the nose. Their abdomen should expand as they breathe deeply and fill their lungs. Their chest and should move only minimally. To exhale, your child should breathe slowly out through the mouth, using and audible exhaling sound. Practice the technique while counting: 4 seconds to inhale, 7 seconds holding the breath, 8 seconds exhaling. Do at least 10 full-breath sequences during practice each day and encourage additional sequences whenever your child is feeling anxious.
   2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Have your child tense their toes (tightening the muscles as much as they can), hold for at least five seconds, and then release. Have them tense their calf muscles, tightening the muscles as much as they can, and then release. Have them work progressively through each major muscle group (i.e., thighs, buttocks, abdomen, arms and hands, neck and shoulder, jaw and lips, eyes). Direct your child to feel the difference between tension and relaxation. Discuss which muscles they might tense and relax when they feel anxious in the presence of others. The student could tense their toes, leg muscles, or hands without others knowing they are using the technique.
   3. Visualization. Have your child identify a place or situation they find calming and ask them to describe as much as they can about the situation-sights, sounds, smells, physical sensations (e.g., heat, texture of the ground). Have your child sit and close their eyes. Initially practice by describing the place as they visualize being in that place. Over time, switch to having your child visualize without any auditory cues.
3. Work with your child to maintain other healthy lifestyle choices that can help them help feel their best:
   • Drink plenty of water and limit drinks with caffeine.
   • Get recommended amounts of exercise.
   • Get adequate sleep for the age group. Children ages 6 through 13 need about 9 to 11 hours of sleep a night, and teenagers ages 14 through 17, need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night.
   • Do healthy things that your child enjoys and finds relaxing. Consider things like yoga, listening to music, volunteering, or talking to friends or family who have a positive and optimistic outlook and lifestyle.
   • Get help for depression or anxiety as needed. Talk to school counselors or consult with a physician or therapist.
4. Seek out resources that may help your child, including the following:
   • Tips to Manage Anxiety and Stress
   • Relaxation Techniques: Breath Control Helps Quell Errant Stress Response
   • Relaxation Techniques: Try these Steps to Reduce Stress​​​​​​​

Does this sound familiar?

• An hour before the bus will arrive, your child’s alarm goes off, and they hit the snooze button. The alarm goes off again. Snooze. You come in and tell your child to get out of bed. Ten minutes later, they are still not up. You throw the covers off the bed and tell them to hop in the shower. After the shower, they take 10 minutes to figure out what to wear. Just 15 minutes remain to eat breakfast and pack their bag for the day. Your child turns on the TV and slowly eats breakfast. Three minutes before the bus arrives, your child is running around and throwing things in their bag. As they bolt out the door, you realize that a textbook has been left behind. You're now running out the door after your child.
• If something similar plays out in your household, consider ways to establish consistent morning and evening routines.
• Have your child start getting ready for bed at least 30 minutes before their specified bedtime so that everything is ready for the next day. Use the following list before bed each night so that you and your child won’t need to scramble in the morning. After the routine is established, you may find getting everything organized for the morning will also allow your student to sleep in a little later.

Before Bedtime Tasks

1. Pack school bag. Make sure your child checks off all the items they'll need. Is their homework packed? Computer? Binder?
2. Pack lunch and put in fridge.
3. Set out clothes.
4. Set alarm.
5. Brush teeth.

Teach your child that the snooze button is not helpful, and consider taping over it or buying an alarm clock without a snooze function. Use a morning list to set a routine and ensure that your child reaches school with everything they need.

In the Morning Tasks

1. Get up with alarm. (no snooze!)
2. Shower (10 minutes max). and get dressed.
3. Brush teeth.
4. Put lunch in bag.
5. Take bag and wait for bus.

You may also wish to provide a reinforcing item or activity for your child when they use the list and get to school or the bus on time. For example, “After you use your bedtime and morning list and get to school on time for 10 days, I will take you and a friend to a basketball game.” If a particular part of the routine is difficult for your child, consider reinforcing that part. For example, if your child habitually hits snooze and you have to nag to get your child up, reinforce when your child does not use the snooze button. For example, “After five days of getting up without snooze or nagging, you get 30 minutes of extra TV time that night.”