Attending Class In Bloomfield: How Many Days Can A Student Miss?

We all need to take a day off now and then… students included.

But according to a recent report, around 10 percent of the students in New Jersey had “high chronic absentee rates” during the 2013-14 school year, meaning that they missed more than 18 days of school.

The report – done by the Advocates for Children of New Jersey – cited Bloomfield’s public schools among the districts in need of improvement.

• See related article: Bloomfield’s Schools Have High Absentee Rates

BLOOMFIELD’S ATTENDANCE RULES

In Bloomfield’s public schools, students in grades K-8 receive a written warning that they are “in jeopardy of failing” when they reach absences in excess of 10 percent of the total possible school days.

Students in grades 9-12 who exceed 17 absence days during any full-year course are not qualified to earn credit for that course.

In addition, the district’s policy states:

“The superintendent shall calculate and monitor the average daily attendance rate for the district and for each school in the district. Whenever the average daily attendance rate is below 90 percent for the district… the superintendent shall develop and implement an attendance improvement plan.”

“The attendance rate shall be calculated by dividing total pupil days present for all pupils by the total possible pupil days for all pupils and multiplying the result by one hundred.”

See the district’s full attendance policy online here.

STATE LAW

According to the NJ Department of Education, student absenteeism can lead to “low academic achievement, school dropout, delinquency and gang involvement.”

“School districts that have established multi-systemic approaches and policies pertaining to student absenteeism typically experience fewer numbers of dropouts and a greater number of graduates,” the NJDOE states on its website.

The New Jersey compulsory education law requires all children between the ages of 6 to 16 to attend school.

State attendance regulations require each district board of education to develop, adopt and implement policies and procedures regarding the attendance of students, including the adoption of a definition of “unexcused absence,” the provision of mandated services for students with between one and nine cumulative unexcused absences, and a mandated court referral for “truant students,” those with ten or more unexcused absences.