Indiana School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy

Indiana School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy

Category: Discipline Addressing Specific Code of Conduct Violations
Subcategory: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy
State: Indiana

The state or jurisdiction(s) you selected for this subcategory are shown below, followed by the laws and regulations. To add or change states, use the Back button and resubmit your search request.

To view a state profile showing school discipline laws and regulations in all subcategories for a given state, click on the state name.

Indiana

LAWS

IC 20-19-3-12.2. Reduction in absenteeism; policy priority; resources and guidance.

(a) The department shall make reduction of absenteeism in schools a policy priority and provide assistance and guidance to school corporations and schools in:

(1) identifying contributing factors of absenteeism; and

(2) developing chronic absence reduction plans that school corporations may elect to include as a component of the school improvement plans required under IC 20-31-5.

(b) The department shall provide resources and guidance to school corporations concerning evidence based practices and effective strategies that reduce absenteeism in schools. However, the department may not mandate a particular policy within a chronic absence reduction plan adopted by a school corporation or school.

IC 20-33-2-23. Powers of certain officers to take children into custody.

(a) Each school attendance officer, sheriff, marshal, and police officer in Indiana may take into custody any child who:

(1) is required to attend school under this chapter; and

(2) is found during school hours, unless accompanied:

(A) by a parent; or

(B) with the consent of a parent, by a relative by blood or marriage who is at least eighteen (18) years of age;

in a public place, in a public or private conveyance, or in a place of business open to the public.

(b) When an officer takes a child into custody under this section, the officer shall immediately deliver the child to the principal of the public or nonpublic school in which the child is enrolled. If a child is not enrolled in any school, then the officer shall deliver the child into the custody of the principal of the public school in the attendance area in which the child resides. If a child is taken to the appropriate school and the principal is unavailable, the acting chief administrative officer of the school shall take custody of the child.

IC 20-33-2-24. Principal; duties when truant child received.

(a) When a child is delivered into the custody of a principal or acting chief administrative officer under section 23 [IC 20-33-2-23] of this chapter, the principal or officer shall immediately place the child in class in the grade or course of study in which the child is enrolled or to which the child may be properly assigned.

(b) A child who is placed in class under this section shall not be kept at school beyond the regular hour of dismissal on that day for the grade or course of study in which the child is placed. As promptly as reasonably possible after placing a child in class under this section, the principal or acting chief administrative officer shall attempt to advise the child's parent of the facts of the case by telephone. The principal or acting chief administrative officer shall advise the parent of the facts of the case by mail on the same day the principal or officer receives the child.

IC 20-33-2-25. Habitual absence from school; report to juvenile intake officer or department of child services.

The superintendent or an attendance officer having jurisdiction shall report a child who is habitually absent from school in violation of this chapter to an intake officer of the juvenile court or the department of child services. The intake officer or the department of child services shall proceed in accord with IC 31-30 through IC 31-40.

IC 20-33-2-26. Enforcement of chapter.

(a) It is the duty of each:

(1) superintendent;

(2) attendance officer;

(3) state attendance official;

(4) security police officer appointed under IC 36-8-3-7; and

(5) school corporation police officer appointed under IC 20-26-16;

to enforce this chapter in their respective jurisdictions and to execute the affidavits authorized under this section. The duty is several, and the failure of one (1) or more to act does not excuse another official from the obligation to enforce this chapter.

(b) An affidavit against a parent for a violation of this chapter shall be prepared and filed in the same manner and under the procedure prescribed for filing affidavits for the prosecution of public offenses.

(c) An affidavit under this section shall be filed in a court with jurisdiction in the county in which the affected child resides. The prosecuting attorney shall file and prosecute actions under this section as in other criminal cases. The court shall promptly hear cases brought under this section.

REGULATIONS

No relevant regulations found.