Our school is better together. We know there will be days when students can’t make it to class (for example, when they’re too sick for school). We hope your child can join us for as many school days as possible to help keep their academic, social and emotional development on track.

To learn more about how sick is too sick, please refer to PSD's illness guidelines.

When your student is not able to come to school, please call 970-488-8801 to leave us a message.

DAILY ABSENCE PROTOCOL

Communication between home and school is key to both student safety and success. Knowing where every student is every school day helps both schools and parents/guardians know that a child is safe and accounted for. Please report an absence by phone call, email, or in ParentVUE. Individualized attendance communication plans may be developed with families to meet the needs of students with chronic mental, behavioral, or physical health situations.

Elementary: If your child is not at school and the absence has not been reported within the first 30 minutes of class, we will contact you in a primary language (an ILA Device, VLP, family liaison, auto-translation or other method may be used for language support). The school is responsible for confirming you received and understood the message, so there will be multiple attempts to reach you if we don’t hear back. If there are multiple days of no contact from parents, a home visit may be considered. 

MONTHLY ABSENCE LETTERS

On the last Friday morning of each month, an automated system contacts parents and guardians of PSD students who have been out a certain number or percentage of days to update them on their child’s attendance status and, if absences are ongoing or frequent, request documentation.

Who gets a letter? Anyone whose child is chronically absent or habitually truant.

• Chronic Absenteeism = missing at least 10% of the school days so far in the school year, including both excused and unexcused absences. There are different letters for missing 10%, 15%, or 25% or more of school days.
• Habitually Truant = four or more unexcused absences in one month or 10 or more unexcused absences in a school year. Learn more about unexcused absences.

What happens if I get one of these letters? The goal of these letters is to offer support, not to shame or punish anyone. Different letters require different actions:

• Letters for students who have been absent at least 10% of the time or have had four or more unexcused absences in one month are sent for awareness and offer an optional meeting to discuss a plan for addressing barriers to attendance.
• Students who have been absent at least 15% of the time or have had 10 or more unexcused absences for the year will need documentation of absences (such as illness, appointments, essential travel, etc.).
• For students with at least 25% absenteeism, a meeting between the student, their parent(s)/guardian(s), and the school is recommended. The meeting may be required if absences are negatively impacting the student’s academic growth and performance.

Who can help? Your child’s teacher, counselor, school administration, and family liaison are all here to help remove barriers to attendance. Together, we can work on a plan to support your child. For more information, visit the PSD Student Attendance and Absences web page.