The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 16 : Education

Chapter 025 : Attendance and Discipline

Subchapter 003 : Compulsory Attendance

• § 1124. Response to chronic absenteeism

  (a) The Agency of Education, in consultation with the Vermont School Boards Association; the Vermont Superintendents Association; the Vermont Principals’ Association; the Vermont Independent Schools Association; the Vermont School Counselor Association; the National Association of Social Workers, Vermont Chapter; the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs; and the Department for Children and Families, Family Services Division, shall develop, and review at least every three years, a model policy on the prevention of chronic absenteeism and truancy.

  (1) The model policy shall:

  (A) provide guidance for the reasons a superintendent or designee or head of school of an approved independent school or designee may excuse a student’s absence for all or part of the school day;

  (B) provide guidance for when a superintendent or designee or head of school of an approved independent school or designee may request justification for an absence;

  (C) provide guidance for how to address the absence of a child with a disability, as that term is defined in subdivision 2942(1) of this title, in accordance with applicable State and federal law; and

  (D) consider the impact incidents of hazing, harassment, and bullying may have on student attendance, including the importance of tailored responses to all students struggling with safety and emotional issues that provide such students with the emotional, academic, and social support to facilitate a successful reintegration for returning students.

  (2) The Agency shall also develop model procedures to accompany the model policy, which shall include a template for documentation of actions taken according to the policy to address an absence, which shall constitute the truancy reporting protocol. The model procedures shall also include a template for standard documentation to be provided to parents or guardians pursuant to section 1127 of this chapter.

  (b) To minimize each student’s loss of educational and developmental opportunities, and to ensure equity in the treatment of absenteeism and truancy for all students and families, each school district and each approved independent school shall develop, adopt, ensure the enforcement of, and make available in the manner described under subdivision 563(1) of this title a policy that is designed to prevent and respond to chronic absenteeism and truancy that shall be at least as stringent as the model policy developed by the Agency. Each superintendent and head of school of an approved independent school shall develop and implement procedures to carry out such policies. The policy shall be consistent with definitions in this chapter. A superintendent or a head of school for an approved independent school shall also ensure that data on student absences is collected and recorded in accordance with Agency of Education requirements. Any school board or approved independent school that fails to adopt a policy shall be presumed to have adopted the most current model policy published by the Agency. (Added 2025, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. July 1, 2026.)