In one survey, students cited boredom and loss of interest in school, irrelevant courses, suspensions, and bad relationships with teachers as the major factors in their decision to skip school. Schools that invest thought and effort into solving the problem make the most headway. Participation in the formulation of the attendance policies should be broadly based. Attendance expectations, as well as consequences of good and poor attendance, should be specified in writing. Policies should be well publicized.
Many school districts adopt a hard-line approach to reducing unexcused absenteeism.
It discourages kids from skipping school by imposing penalties on parents and on the students themselves. Hundreds of kids are back in school, and the county has seen a 45 percent reduction in the district's dropout rate. Many states allow or require school systems to grade student achievement on factors other than quality and quantity of work. These schools may have the authority to refuse a student credit on homework assigned the day of absence, providing the absence is unexcused. Course credit may be denied if the student misses class a specified number of times, ranging from 5 to 20 times per term, depending on the school.