FIRST LETTER

• The 1st letter is sent once a student has accrued 3 or more unexcused absences and/or 18 period absences (tardies over 30 minutes).

• Attendance clerks generate these letters in Aeries.

• This letter notifies the student's family of the attendance concern, the risks of patterns of poor attendance.

TIER I ACTIONS:

At the tier Site Intervention level, schools are focused on building relationships with all families and students. Each student and their family should feel a sense of belonging at the school. Site staff engage in relationship building using e.g. holding Restorative conversations, Engage the family, and/or implement Relationship Mapping Strategy.

Site teams will monitor attendance data monthly or bi-monthly (2x per month) and will implement 2-3 week school wide attendance campaigns focused on furthering or establishing a sense of belonging anytime the school wide attendance rate is below 96%.

The same data will be reviewed at the conclusion of the campaign (the following month), to determine if it was effective in improving attendance and fostering belong for all students.

Site teams are encouraged to think outside of the box on how to ensure these belonging campaigns reach families and students who are close to experiencing absenteeism.

SECOND LETTER

• The 2nd letter regarding concern with student attendance is sent at the discretion of site administration.

• Students qualify to receive this letter if they continue to accrue unexcused absences or truant tardies after the 1st letter has been received by the student's parent/guardian.

• This letter notifies families that the site intervention team will be in contact with the family for more information to help the team identify appropriate interventions and supports moving forward.

TIER II ACTIONS: SITE BASED ATTENDANCE INTERVENTION MEETING

At theTier II level, schools are focused on addressing the needs of the students and families who are struggling with absenteeism. At this level, a school intervention team will pull up a list of students who are deemed chronically absent.

Intervention teams generate a list of students with the threshold of 75% attendance rates or less, use the list of those who are chronically absent to complete the single-page absenteeism Root Cause and Intervention Matching Tool or another assessment for each student on the list, and match them to appropriate interventions.

The site team created a success plan for the student (invites the family to be a part of the meeting). The plan is shared, implemented and monitored. *If the family does not participate, the team still creates a plan and communicates the plan with the family.

The intervention team reviews attendance data at the next intervention team meeting (should take place 2-4 weeks after implementing the support plan) to determine the effectiveness of that intervention(s). The team then decides appropriate next steps and whether the student should be referred to a Third Tier for more of an individualized intervention.

THIRD LETTER

• This 3rd letter regarding concern with student attendance is sent at the discretion of site administration.

• Students qualify to receive this letter if they they continue to accrue unexcused absences or truant tardies after the Site-Based Attendance Intervention Plan was implemented. 

• This letter notifies the family that they have been referred to the Multi-Agency Student Support Team.

TIER III ACTIONS:

Family is referred to Truancy Prevention Specialist who arranges for the Multi-Agency Attendance Support Meeting.

M U L T I - A G E N C Y   A T T E N D A N C E   S U P P O R T   M E E T I N G

The family is notified of the referral to the Multi-Agency Student Support Team via the 3rd letter. During this meeting, the team includes the family as team members and work together to create an attendance action plan by evaluating needs, barriers, available supports/resources and creating a system for frequent follow-up and feedback. Elementary Template, Secondary Template (sample templates from Attendance Works change as needed).