In Colorado, CRS § 22-33-104 the statute that defines school truancy and requires kids to attend school.

If a child doesn't attend school as ordered, or if parents fail to ensure their child's attendance, they can face consequences of the state juvenile court. This might involve penalties or even being charged with a crime called contempt of court.

What Is Truancy in Colorado?

According to the Colorado Department of Education, truancy is defined as an unexcused absence.

According to CRS 22-33-104, kids between six (6) and seventeen (17) years old are required to attend school for a certain number of hours each year:

• If you're in half-day kindergarten, you need to go for at least 450 hours.
• If you're in full-day kindergarten, you need to go for at least 900 hours.
• If you're in elementary school but not in kindergarten, you need to go for at least 968 hours.
• And if you're in middle or high school, you need to go for at least 1,056 hours.

Parents or legal guardians are responsible for making sure their kids meet these requirements.

The truancy rate is calculated by dividing the reported Total Student Days Unexcused Absences by the Total Student Days Possible.

Total Student Days Unexcused Absences / Total Student Days Possible

For example, if your child attended school only 50 days or of a total 180, their truancy rate would be calculated as: 50/180 = 0.278 or 27.8%

What Is Habitual Truancy?

There are two classifications of truancy in Colorado schools:

• Habitually Truant (Student Count): A student aged six to sixteen is counted as habitually truant if the student misses school four times in a month without a valid excuse, or is absent without an excuse ten times during the school year.
• Chronically Absent: A student absent 10 percent or more of the days enrolled during the school year is chronically absent. All types of absences, whether they're unexcused, excused, or due to suspension are included. The rate we're talking about is the percentage of students who are regularly absent, based on the total number of students enrolled.

Every local school board must try their best to help these kids understand the truancy law and the importance of attending school by talking with the kids and their parents or guardians, and working with community services to create plans.

The primary aim is to keep these kids in school and stop them from dropping out altogether.

Colorado Truancy Consequences

In Colorado, breaking school attendance rules doesn't always lead to fixed punishments like some criminal convictions do. Instead, the judge who oversees cases involving young people has the power to decide what consequences are appropriate.

If kids or parents violate CRS 22-33-104, they could end up in trouble with the court. If the juvenile court judge determines that the compulsory school attendance laws have been broken, they can issue a court order for the student and their parents.

If a student or their parents can't convince the judge that there's a good reason for missing school, the judge will issue a special order. This order is unique to each situation, taking into account why the student is struggling to attend and whether the parents are doing all they can to help.

Usually, the judge will tell the student to go back to school by issuing a special order. Sometimes, they might also tell the student's parents to make sure their child goes to school.

If the student keeps skipping school even after the court order, both the student and their parents could be held in contempt by the court. And if things don't improve after that, in the most extreme of cases, the court could even send the student or their parents to jail for a short period of time.

However, that is an extremely rare situation. The harshest penalty for disobeying the court in truancy cases is spending up to 48 hours in Juvenile Hall.

Judges prefer to find other solutions whenever possible. Often, they'll arrange for things like attendance officers to pick up late students and bring them to school.

The Truancy Process in Colorado

Is skipping school a punishable offense in Colorado?

Yes, if a student skips school regularly, the school can take legal action called a truancy case. This process is outlined in Colorado law, specifically in CRS 22-33-108.

A truancy case can be initiated by the school’s lawyer, the Attendance Officer, or the county Board of Education.

First, the school sends a notice to both the absent student and their parent or guardian. This notice warns them that they may have to go to court if the student doesn’t start attending school regularly.

Often, this notice includes a court summons with a date for a court hearing. This hearing must be scheduled at least five days in advance. If the student starts going to school regularly before the court date, the hearing is canceled. Otherwise, the student and their parents must appear in juvenile court.

The student has the right to have a juvenile defense attorney during the juvenile court proceedings.

Legal Defenses to Truancy Cases in Colorado

When kids and their parents get a heads-up that they might be facing a truancy case, there are ways they can defend themselves legally. Here are some common arguments in truancy defense cases:

• They had a valid reason for missing school.
• The school is being unfair by going after them for truancy.
• There might be circumstances where the student doesn't have to attend school.

It's up to the student and their parents to prove these defenses in court.