Principals give mixed reviews to new school attendance law
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Building principals on Thursday told state lawmakers a new school attendance law has drawn attention to the absenteeism problem but hasn’t yet solved it.
During a hearing on the state’s chronic absenteeism problem, Southport High School Principal Amy Boone told a legislative committee parents do not always respond to requests for attendance meetings if their children miss too many days of class.
“Despite the ongoing effort to notify parents, making phone calls, emails, using certified mail and attempting home visits, many still do not engage,” she said. “The tight timeline of five days within five (unexcused) absences also means many parents receive the required certified letter after the meeting has been required to take place.”
In some cases, the Southport principal says, parents have responded to the new law by simply enrolling their children in 100% virtual classes or homeschooling them. She says she does give the new law credit for making more people aware of the extent and the seriousness of the problem.
Indiana Department of Education officials say 17.8% of students were chronically absent during the 2023-2024 school year. This means they missed at least 10 days of class. This marks the second year in a row chronic absenteeism has dropped. Education officials says chronic absenteeism dropped across all possible demographic measures last year, including among all ethnic groups, students receiving free or reduced-price meals, and students who are English-language learners.
Still, this means more than 1 out of every 6 Indiana students were chronically absent last year. During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers approved legislation to require schools to meet with a student’s parents once they record five unexcused absences in a 10-week period and develop a school attendance plan. Schools also must notify prosecutors of any such proceeding.
Boone says she would like to see lawmakers extend the deadline to hold an attendance meeting with parents to give them more time to respond. In addition, the Southport principal and her counterparts from other schools reported they had to rely on outside funding to pay for attendance liaisons. Boone says Southport High School receives federal Title I funding, which is provided to schools with a certain percentage of economically disadvantaged students.
The superintendent of New Castle Community Schools says his district received a four-year federal grant for its liaison, which he credited with reducing chronic absenteeism in the district’s middle school by 7.2% and in the high school by 11.5%.
Rep. Ed DeLaney, an Indianapolis Democrat, says Thursday’s testimony suggests lawmakers inadvertently created an unfunded mandate when they approved the chronic absenteeism law.
The legislative session that begins in January will be a budget session, and DeLaney told News 8 he will push for funding specifically for school attendance programs.
Sen. Jeff Raatz, a Richmond Republican, who helped write the attendance law, said, “I can’t tell you we got it right at this point and I can’t tell you we got it wrong. We’ve got work to do.”
Both DeLaney and Raatz told News 8 further legislation on school attendance is possible during the 2025 session.