2101 ATTENDANCE RECORDS AND REPORTING

2101.1 Each educational institution operating in the District of Columbia shall maintain an accurate, contemporaneous, and daily attendance record for each student who is enrolled in or who attends the educational institution.

2101.2 (a) Attendance shall be recorded and reported as follows:

(1) The requirement to record and report attendance for a student who is registered in the education institution's Student Information System shall begin on the educational institution's first (1st) official school day and continue throughout the school year unless the student:

(A) Officially withdraws from the educational institution;

(B) Fails to attend at least one (1) day of school in the first (1st) three (3) weeks of school without notification to the educational institution for such absence; or

(C) Enrolls in another educational institution; and

(2) Expulsion or suspension of a student during the school year does not relieve the educational institution of the duty to record and report the student's daily attendance for the school year in which the expulsion or suspension occurred until such time as the student officially withdraws from the educational institution or enrolls in another educational institution; or such time as the educational institution determines that, despite best efforts, it is unable to contact the student's parent(s) or guardian(s).

(b) Attendance records and reports required by this section shall be maintained by the educational institution for a minimum of five (5) years.

2101.3 The attendance record for each student shall contain the following:

(a) Dates of enrollment;

(b) Daily legible or machine-readable records of daily attendance, noting the student as: fully present, partially present, fully absent, or partially absent;

1. (c) The nature of each absence as excused, unexcused, suspension-related, or expulsion-related;
2. (d) Dates of withdrawal from the educational institution or confirmed enrollment in another educational institution, including the name and location of the educational institution in which the student enrolled and fol low up notation(s) to confirm the child's new educational institution, if applicable;
3. (e) Dates of each referral to the school-based student support team, the Child and Family Services Agency, the Court Social Services Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; or the Office of the Attorney General Juvenile Section related to absenteeism or truancy;
4. (f) Dates of marking periods;
5. (g) Dates on which a law enforcement officer enforcing compulsory attendance laws returns the student to the educational institution, if applicable;
6. (h) Daily late arrival time, if applicable;
7. (i) Dates and times of early dismissals from the school day, as authorized by the educational institution, if applicable;
8. (j) Dates and brief description of communications with the student's parent(s) or guardian(s) with regard to school attendance and absences, including the record of or a cross-reference to the record documenting:
9. (1) Contact with parent(s) or guardian(s); and
10. (2) Interventions, services, and service referrals related to absences other than those listed in subparagraph (e), if applicable;
11. (k) Underlying cause(s) for student's absenteeism or truancy as determined by the school-based student support team;
12. (l) Action plans and strategies implemented by the school-based student support team to eliminate unexcused absences; and
13. (m) Services utilized by the student to reduce unexcused absences, if applicable.

2101.4 Prior to the beginning of each school year, an educational institution shall designate an individual to be responsible for collecting, maintaining, and reporting the attendance data required for each student consistent with federal and District requirements. This designated individual shall:- (a) Ensure timely submission of attendance in conformance with this chapter;

- (b) Submit corrected attendance records via an automated, electronic feed, or such other format; and provide any corrections to attendance records according to deadlines provided by OSSE; and

- (c) Timely respond to requests for clarification of submitted attendance records.2101.5 The name and contact information of the designated attendance monitor(s) shall be reported by the educational institution prior to the first (1st) official school day of each school year to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and posted in a conspicuous space on the educational institution's website.2101.6 Within sixty (60) days after the completion of each school year, an educational institution shall submit to OSSE the report described in D.C. Official Code § 38-203(i). Such report shall include attendance information in aggregate form, excluding individual student data.2101.7 By November 30 of each year, OSSE shall issue a report including the following information:- (a) Truancy rates and chronic absenteeism rates for each educational institution;

- (b) Progress in improving attendance and reducing truancy for each educational institution; and

- (c) Each educational institution's compliance with key attendance and truancy requirements.2101.8 An educational institution shall maintain attendance records as part of the student's permanent record and for such periods of time as may be otherwise specified by applicable laws and regulations.2101.9 Within two (2) business days of a student's tenth (10th) full day unexcused absence during a school year, the educational institution shall:- (a) [REPEALED];

1. (b) Send the student's parent(s) or guardian(s) a letter, under signature of the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, notifying the parent(s) or guardian(s) that they may be in violation of the school attendance requirements and subject to prosecution under District of Columbia laws; and
2. (c) Notify OSSE that the student has accrued ten (10) full day unexcused absences.2101.10 Upon notification from the educational institution under Section 2101.9, OSSE shall provide the parent(s) or guardian(s) with a copy of the Truancy Prevention Resource Guide published by OSSE.2101.11 An educational institution that is approved to offer instruction through a distance learning model on a regular or otherwise routine basis must submit an attendance plan to OSSE for approval on an annual basis. This attendance plan shall:- (a) Comply with the instructional day requirements defined in Section 2100.3 by dividing the instructional day into modules;
3. (b) Identify modules as synchronous or asynchronous;
4. (c) Require every student to have at least one (1) in-person class or synchronous module on their daily schedule every day;
5. (d) Identify how the educational institution will document and preserve attendance records that demonstrate compliance with Sections 2101.12 and 2101.13; and
6. (e) Identify how the educational institution will communicate attendance expectations to parents and guardians, including an expectation for adequate supervision of their child(ren) during distance learning instruction.2101.12 To be considered present in a synchronous module, a student's physical presence must be verified by an instructor through a synchronous video camera where the instructor can temporarily visually verify the student's presence through a responsive action by the student.2101.13 To be considered present in an asynchronous module, a student must complete an output during the module.2101.14 For routine distance learning, a student shall be marked 'fully present' if the

student satisfies the requirements in 2101.12 for one hundred percent (100%) of the instructional day's synchronous modules and satisfies the requirements in 2101.13 for one hundred percent (100%) of the instructional day's asynchronous modules.

2101.15 For routine distance learning, a student shall be marked 'partially present' if the student:- (a) Is present for at least one (1) or synchronous module, as defined in 2101.12; and

- (b) Is present for modules that account for between sixty percent (60%) and ninety-nine and nine tenths percent (99.9%) of the instructional day.2101.16 For routine distance learning, a student shall be marked 'partially absent' if the student:- (a) Is present for at least one (1) asynchronous module but absent for all synchronous modules scheduled on that day, or

- (b) Is marked as present for modules that account for between one percent (1%) and fifty-nine and nine tenths percent (59.9%) of the instructional day.2101.17 For routine distance learning, a student shall be marked as 'fully absent' if the student is marked as present for zero percent (0%) of the instructional day.2101.18 For situational distance learning, the educational institution shall comply with the following standards:- (a) To mark a student as 'present,' the educational institution shall, at a minimum, require:

- (1) An instructor to verify the student's presence through one-on-one contact with the student, including but not limited to a phone call, through a synchronous video platform, or through the educational institution's learning management system; and

- (2) The student to complete at least one (1) output for the instructional day;

- (b) Document and preserve attendance records that demonstrate compliance with Section 2101.18(a); and

(c) Communicate attendance expectations to parents and guardians, including but not limited to an expectation for adequate supervision of their child(ren) during situational distance learning.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 24 DCR 1005 (July 29, 1977); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 40 DCR 1573 (February 26, 1993); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 8978 (November 20, 2009); as amended by § 304 of the South Capitol Street Memorial Amendment Act of 2012, effective June 7, 2012 (D.C. Law 19-141; 59 DCR 3083, 3087 (April 20, 2012)); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 60 DCR 9725 (June 28, 2013); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 61 DCR 222 (January 10, 2014); as amended by the School Attendance Clarification Amendment Act of 2016, effective July 26, 2016 (D.C. Law 21-0140; 63 DCR 8207 (June 10, 2016)); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 68 DCR 2076 (February 19, 2021); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 68 DCR 013604 (December 17, 2021); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 70 DCR 001084 (January 27, 2023).