(Radio Iowa) - A new state law to address chronic absenteeism requires notifying parents by certified letter if a student misses school for eight days in a semester.
After additional absences, there must be an in-person meeting with a parent or guardian. The most recent data shows absenteeism is remarkably widespread in Iowa schools. According to a national group called Attendance Works, one in four Iowa students were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year.
Advocates of the new law say regular attendance at school is a habit that will carry over into adulthood -- and much of what happens in a classroom cannot be learned through make-up work. Under Iowa law, if a student misses 20 percent of school days in a semester, a meeting of the student, a parent or guardian and the county attorney will be scheduled.