Parents have a significant role in ensuring their children are attending school regularly. However, the West Hills Middle School's attendance team discovered that when they reached out to parents of frequently absent students to help address the problems, the parent support events they planned were poorly attended.

The first year, five families out of the entire elementary, middle and high school feeder system showed up. Last year, when 400 families received a personal invitation, the turnout was even more discouraging.

“Not one family showed up. Not one parent,” WHMS Clinical Support Specialist Andrew “Link” Simpson said.

Parent education is a major focus of both the statewide Every Day Counts attendance campaign and Jordan School District’s attendance initiatives. The Utah State Board of Education has provided a toolkit of infographics and slides which help educate families about the negative impacts of frequent school absences.

Copper Mountain Middle School regularly shares these messages with parents through social media, ParentSquare and other school communications.

“We're doing a multifaceted campaign—as many touch points as we can—to emphasize that attendance is important,” CMMS school counselor Hailey Sutterfield said. “Especially after 2020, where a lot of people felt like attendance isn't important, we're trying to get the word out that it is actually important and that it is valuable to be at school.” 

Jordan School District Attendance & Prevention Specialist Michelle Reyes said one common misconception is that absences aren’t a big deal because students can virtually access the assignments they missed in class the same day.

“One of the things we're doing to try and combat that is to let families know that school isn't all about academics and that there are other very important skills that their students are learning from being in a classroom,” Reyes said.

Jordan School District’s student support website and Utah State Board of Education’s absenteeism and truancy prevention website provide a variety of resources to help parents prioritize school attendance.

There are resources for helping a child experiencing depression, anxiety, bullying, learning disabilities or other negative situations that cause them to avoid school. There are also ideas and links for families who struggle with transportation, childcare, family situations and economic obstacles that cause their child to miss school frequently.

Parents are encouraged to set an example of prioritizing regular school attendance by scheduling their child’s medical and dental appointments outside school hours whenever possible and taking family trips only during school holidays.

While some parents allow older children to take responsibility for their own attendance, USBE materials suggest “teens still benefit from clear expectations, structure and support from adults.”

Parents’ responsibilities, by law, are to ensure their child attends school and to notify school staff when their child will be absent. The most common reason for an absence is illness, but Reyes acknowledges there is still some confusion, left over from the pandemic, about when it's okay to send a symptomatic child to school.

“Even as a parent myself, coming off of covid, it was, ‘They have a sniffle today or a little cough. Can I send my child to school today or do I have to keep them home? Do they want them there or are they going to be judging them if I send them to school?’” she said.

Parents can check the school district’s website or their child’s school website for guidance, but generally, if the illness is contagious (high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, crusty eyes) the child should stay home.

When a child is absent for any reason, parents are responsible for contacting the school attendance office, preferably as soon as possible on the day of the absence. Parents aren’t required to disclose the reason for the absence, however some schools like to collect that data. In some circumstances, a doctor’s note may be required to excuse an absence.

Reyes recommends parents become familiar with their child’s school attendance policies and procedures.

“Each school individually customizes how attendance is excused based on the community they serve,” she said.