Attendance Control

The Comprehensive Truancy Intervention Program is a collaborative effort of the Fort Worth ISD, Tarrant County, City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County Juvenile Probation Deportment, Lena Pope Home and other social service agencies within the county and city. The goal of the program is to insure students are in school, reduce truancy and decrease dropouts. When schools open in August, every student in Fort Worth ISD is provided with a letter from the Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney advising parents of state truancy laws and the potential of court action against them and their children.

What is Truancy, and how will the District handle truancy issues?

Individuals between the ages of 6 to 18 or those individuals enrolled in a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten program must attend school for the entire time courses are offered. If a student misses 10 or more days or parts of days within a six-month period during the same school year, without a valid excuse, the student is truant.  If the student misses three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period, without a valid excuse, the student is truant. This student can and will be prosecuted for Failure to Attend School (Texas Education Code 25.094). The parent/guardian of a truant student can also be prosecuted, after receiving a warning, for Parent Contributing to Non-Attendance (Texas Education Code 25.093). These cases are prosecuted in the City of Fort Worth Municipal Court. The parent/guardian must take the necessary measures to make sure the student is regularly attending school.  You may contact your child’s school attendance office to ensure that your child has regular attendance.

Parents and students are responsible for making sure written excuses for absences are submitted to the student’s school attendance office.  This must be done within seven days of the absence to ensure that an absence is not marked as unexcused.  Also, a student must have a legitimate excuse for arriving late or leaving early from school.  The school attendance office must be notified, in writing, with a valid reason for the tardy or early dismissal.  If a student becomes a truant, the parent/guardian will be notified in writing about the truancy and may be required to attend future meetings regarding the truant student.