Indiana’s new school attendance rules: Here’s what happens when students are truant.

The number of Indiana students missing large amounts of school surged during the pandemic. Attendance has improved in recent years but absenteeism remains high.

In response, Indiana lawmakers passed two laws — in 2024 and 2025 — aimed at improving attendance. These laws require schools to intervene early and refer truant students to prosecutors. 

The increased attention has prompted recent concern among some families, especially parents whose children frequently miss school for medical reasons.

Here’s a breakdown of Indiana attendance laws.

What do the new attendance rules change?

When a student misses five or more days of school without an excuse within a 10-week period, they are considered an “absent student” under Indiana law. 

Schools must notify parents and hold an attendance conference. They are also required to develop attendance plans, which can include wraparound services, disciplinary action schools may take if the student does not meet attendance requirements and referrals for services such as counseling. 

The early intervention process was created in 2024, and initially it only applied to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Lawmakers expanded the law this year, and it now applies to middle and high schoolers as well.

Schools are not required to intervene for excused absences. The rules also do not apply if a student has a note on file from a medical provider that says the student will have frequent absences under a special education plan.

Can parents and students be prosecuted for missing school?

Yes, but only in cases of habitual truancy, which Indiana law defines as 10 or more unexcused absences in a school year. These laws are not new, but enforcement varies by county. Prosecutors often focus on cases where students have missed far more than 10 days of school. 

Schools must report habitually truant students to prosecutors. However, prosecutors are not required to file charges. The law also outlines some of the other steps prosecutors can take, such as meeting with families, educators or service providers; preparing intervention plans; or connecting families with care such as family counseling and mental health services. 

Are excused and unexcused treated the same?

No. Truancy laws only apply to unexcused absences. Each school district defines what counts as an “excused” absence under local policy.

Students who have lots of excused absences — such as documented visits to healthcare providers — are not considered “absent students” under the new laws. Schools are not required to intervene when students have lots of excused absences, but they can have local policies.

“Local schools have always determined what circumstances count as an excused absence, and any interventions for excused absences would be determined locally,” wrote Molly Williams, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Education in an email to WFYI.

What absences are excused?

Districts typically treat absences for medical appointments as excused if families provide a note from a provider. Other reasons for absences that are commonly excused are to attend family funerals, for college visits and for religious holidays. 

But other absences, including when students are sick but don’t provide a doctor’s note, can be more of a gray area. In Franklin Township Community Schools, for example, absences for illness are considered excused if either a parent or doctor provides a note. But if a student is absent more than 10 days, they may be required to provide doctors notes. 

What is an unexcused absence?

Unexcused absences are days when a student missed school without notifying the school or for reasons that the school district does not excuse. Even absences that seem outside a family’s control may be considered unexcused, such as if students miss school because of car trouble. 

What is an exempt absence?

“Exempt absences” are days when students miss school for set reasons allowed under state law, according to an IDOE memo. Examples include: Serving as a legislative page, participating in the Indiana State Fair and attending court under subpoena.

These absences do not count toward a student’s total when calculating chronic absenteeism. Those days are different from excused absences because they should be counted as days of attendance, according to the IDOE. 

Why did I get an attendance letter about my child?

Parents may be getting more letters, emails and calls from their children’s schools because of the new attendance law and because of growing attention on attendance. 

Some letters are required by state law. For example, when students reach five days of unexcused absences, schools must notify their parents that if they reach 10 unexcused absences, their family could be referred to the court or the Indiana Department of Child Services. 

Other communication may be based on district policy aimed at improving student attendance. In elementary schools in Avon Community Schools, families receive attendance letters beginning when their children miss five days of school, even if those absences are excused. 

What is chronic absenteeism?

Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10 percent of the school year — about 18 days. In the 2023-24 school year, 17.8 percent of Indiana students were considered chronically absent, down slightly from the prior year but significantly above the prepandemic rate.

Chronic absenteeism is a common national measure that includes both excused and unexcused absences. Advocates say it’s a better way of tracking student attendance than truancy rates because even excused absences can lead students to fall behind in school and policy should focus on helping reduce barriers to attendance.

What are absence categories?

The 2025 attendance law required the Department of Education to create standardized categories for tracking student absences. These include both excused and unexcused absences. The goal is to better understand why students miss school. The categories are not mentioned in the state’s attendance enforcement laws.

Contact WFYI education reporter Dylan Peers McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org.