Notice:
The Board of Directors will consider adopting the Attendance Policy below at the board meeting held on February 26, 2026. Parents, guardians, other persons having care of a student, and other members of the community are encouraged to provide input regarding the proposed Policy either at the Board meeting or via email to BoardofDirectorsPublicComment@gmail.com. We ask that email correspondence include “Groveport Community School– Attendance Policy” in the subject line. The Board of Directors will consider any public comment made prior to approving the Policy.

Attendance Policy

Understanding Attendance Expectations: Policies and Guidelines for Parents

The Board of Directors adopts this policy for the purpose of guiding the School’s operator and School staff in addressing and ameliorating student absences. Attendance and engagement are keys to success and students who attend school regularly have a greater opportunity to develop academically and socially. Research shows that students who are never chronically absent are much more likely to read and perform on grade level and graduate on time. It is the policy of the School to support removing barriers to full participation in learning.

Within one hundred twenty minutes after the beginning of each school day, the attendance officer, their assistant or designee, shall make at least one attempt to contact the parent, guardian, or other person having care of a student (“Parent”) who was absent without legitimate excuse from the School as of the beginning of that school day. An attempt to contact a student’s Parent shall be made through one of the following methods:

A telephone call placed in person;
An automated telephone call via a system that includes verification that each call was actually placed and either the call was answered by its intended recipient or a voice mail message was left relaying the required information;
A notification sent through the School’s automated student information system;
A text-based communication sent to Parent’s electronic wireless communication device;
A notification sent to an electronic mail address of the Parent;
A visit, in person, to the student’s residence of record;
Any other notification procedure that has been adopted by the Board.

This notification requirement shall not apply to students who are in home-based, online, or internet or computer-based instruction or in instances where a student was not expected to be in attendance at the School building due to the student’s participation in off-campus activities, including but not limited to participation in the college credit plus program.

The attendance officer or assistant shall investigate possible attendance violations and is authorized under Ohio law to take necessary actions in order to enforce the compulsory education laws, including the ability to serve warrants and enter places where students are employed.

The attendance officer or their assistant shall examine any case of supposed truancy within the School and shall warn the student, if found truant, and their Parent in writing, of the legal consequences for being truant as outlined below.

CHRONICALLY ABSENT

A student is considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of their possible attendance hours for any reason.

An Integrated Multi-Tiered System of Supports as Part of an Attendance Strategy

The Board is committed to a problem-solving approach to improving attendance and uses legal action as a last resort. When absences are the result of community and school challenges, a punitive approach is not likely to be effective and can undermine partnering with students and families to identify and address the underlying reasons for absence.

Instead, the Board endorses an integrated multi-tiered system of supports that is inclusive of universal prevention and early intervention before students become chronically absent. A continuum of supports will be in place with different types of evidence-informed instruction and interventions to meet the diverse needs of students and address the range of barriers that prevent students from participating and engaging in learning.

More intensive supports are provided for students with greater numbers of absences, along with resources to help students and their families address the root causes of the absences. The School shall have absence intervention teams work with students at risk of becoming chronically absent and their families to improve the students’ attendance at school.

These components will inform the School’s use of an integrated multi-tiered system of supports:

Universal Screening: The School will regularly review attendance data alongside other student data using an early warning system. This proactive, systematic process helps identify areas of need early on, allowing for timely interventions.
Data-Based Decision-Making: The School will collect, analyze, and use various forms of data to inform student needs and allocate resources. This approach ensures that decisions are grounded in evidence and tailored to the specific needs of students.
Continuum of Supports: The School will organize evidence-based academic and non-academic instruction and supports across three tiers:
- Core: Universal attendance messaging and engagement practices provided to all students and families to establish the expectation of daily attendance.
- Targeted: Early intervention for students who miss 5% – 19% of instructional time. The Board requires the School to begin communication and supportive outreach as soon as absence patterns indicate a concern.
- Intensive: Individualized supports provided to students missing 20% or more of instructional time.
Progress Monitoring: The School will continuously and frequently collect data to assess student performance and supports. This continuous feedback loop helps in adjusting strategies to better support students and improve attendance.
Team-Based Problem Solving: The School will implement a collaborative, responsive, and systematic process for understanding and addressing complex problems impacting students. This approach involves personalized outreach to students and families, intentional engagement strategies, and ongoing progress monitoring.
Shared Leadership: The School will engage in a collaborative approach to provide strong, ongoing leadership for implementing an integrated multi-tiered system of supports, including infrastructure, professional development, and monitoring. This ensures that staff have the skills and support to create strong foundations for learning. The School believes that all adults have an opportunity and responsibility to support attendance, and the School will provide regular and embedded professional development opportunities to support this understanding and drive action.
Professional Capacity: The School will ensure staff members are knowledgeable, organized, and equipped to use an integrated multi-tiered system of supports. The School will continually review and evaluate practices and skills to ensure they align with attendance improvement for all students.
Communication and Collaboration: The School will implement essential processes to promote and support engagement and shared responsibility for all students through a strengths-based lens among all teaching and non-teaching staff, administrators, families, caregivers, and students. This reinforces the importance of attendance and fosters a supportive community.

Notifying Parents/Guardians

The School will begin to communicate with a student’s Parent as soon as it determines a concerning absence pattern exists and shall ensure that at least one good faith attempt has been made to notify the Parent prior to the student accruing 46 hours of absence in any given school year.

Habitual Truancy and Filing a Complaint

“Habitual truants,” are defined as students that are absent without legitimate excuse for 30 or more consecutive hours, 42 or more hours in one school month, or 72 or more hours in a school year. In the event a student meets the threshold for habitual truancy, the School must take the following steps:

If the School determines that the student and the student’s family are making satisfactory progress in improving the student’s attendance, the attendance officer, their assistant or designee shall not file a complaint. Whether a student has made satisfactory progress will be determined by the School after it considers individual barriers, medical diagnoses, and/or previous communications from families.
If no determination of progress is made, or the student and the student’s family cease to continue making progress in improving the student’s attendance, the attendance officer, their assistant, or designee shall file the complaint. A complaint filed in the juvenile court under shall allege that the child is an unruly child for being a habitual truant and that the Parent has violated section 3321.38 of the Revised Code.