Does your child need a doctor’s note to miss school under new Iowa law?

DES MOINES, Iowa — Schools across Iowa have had to change their attendance policies following new laws passed last spring to combat chronic absenteeism in schools.

As a part of the laws schools are required to have stricter attendance guidelines with consequences for students who miss school.

Under the new law, a student is considered chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of classes during an instructional period, either a quarter or semester depending on the school. The school is required to notify the county attorney and parent or guardian once a child hits the 10% threshold.

After missing 15% of classes in an instructional period, the school is required to hold an engagement meeting with the parent or guardian, and the child present to come up with a plan to increase attendance.

After missing 20% of classes in an instructional period students are considered truant and a truancy officer and the court may get involved.

The new laws also specified what types of absences are excusable and will not count towards the chronic absence total. They are as follows :

1. Completed requirements for graduation or obtained a high school equivalency diploma.
2. Excused for sufficient reason by any court of record or judge.
3. Attending religious services or receiving religious instructions.
4. Unable to attend school due to legitimate medical reason(s).
5. Individualized Education Program (IEP) that affects attendance.
6. Section 504 plan under the Federal Rehabilitation Act that affects attendance.

Some school districts may require students to have a doctor’s note to accept their absence as medically legitimate. The new law requires schools to determine what is and is not a medically legitimate absence.

Dr. Brad Buck, the Superintendent of the Waukee Community School District, said that at Waukee parents may call their child out sick twice without a doctor’s note before an absence counts towards chronic absenteeism.

“The first two days it’s excused and exempt. If in a quarter. If it goes beyond that, then they have to have a doctor’s note. Or if they don’t have a doctor’s note, then it starts to count towards the five. So there is some leeway in there that you could, you could still be gone in that model six times in a quarter and not have a letter go to the county attorney,” Dr. Buck said.

To learn more about the new chronic absenteeism guidelines visit your school district’s website or the Department of Education’s website .

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