Truancy is when a student does not attend school and has no good reason for it (e.g., medical episodes, bereavement, etc.). Students who are classified as truant are dropped from school enrollment and reported to municipal authorities. Please note that this has been updated as of 08/27/2020 with new information from administration.

At Epic, truancy happens usually one of two ways:

1. There are no instructional activities completed for 15 school days in a row
2. The student has less than 72 instructional activities at the end of a quarter
   • For students who enroll mid-quarter, Epic will pro-rate their minimum number of required instructional activities based upon their date of enrollment.

In the past, Epic’s system would automatically withdraw students who did not hit their minimum number of activities at the end of the quarter. The auto withdraw is no longer taking place. Now, students who do not meet their instructional activities quota will be required to meet with their teacher and principal to come up with an Academic Improvement Plan and discuss if Epic is the right place for these students.

Epic definition of “instructional activities” (also known as gradable assignments) includes but is not limited to the following:

• Instructional meetings with a teacher
• Academic activity as assigned by the teacher (e.g., core and supplemental curricula, Epic Live, HWH sessions, etc.)
• Testing (both benchmark tests and State end-of-instruction exams)
• School-sanctioned trips (e.g., museums, tours, etc.)
• Orientation (students must complete the orientation before engaging in any instructional activity)

Here are a few links to help you understand what truancy is and how Epic Charter Schools and the State of Oklahoma handle it:

• Epic Schools Student/Parent Handbook (look under “Academics” tab)
• Oklahoma Compulsory Education Laws
  • This is a really good, plain-English explanation of what is going on
• Chronic Absenteeism (from the Oklahoma State Department of Education)
• Senate Bill 998 (the actual law that requires children to attend school)
• Oklahoma School Law Book from the Oklahoma State Department of Education (truancy ordinances start on p. 245 and p. 483)
  • I recommend using the Find function (ctrl+f) and typing in “truancy” in order to find all instances of the word

Re-Enrollment After Being Withdrawn for Truancy

⚠️ Students can now only be re-admitted TWICE after being withdrawn for truancy. ⚠️

If you have been withdrawn for truancy, you are certainly welcome to re-enroll!! However, there are certain stipulations to ensure that the same circumstances that led to truancy in the first place are avoided:

1. Please view my policy for re-entry: Ms. Anderson’s 15-Day Re-Enrollment Plan
2. Please view the form you will fill out AFTER our meeting: Re-Entry Requirements Acknowledgement
3. Now that you have seen what is required upon re-entry, you can begin the re-enrollment process here: Epic Schools Re-Enrollment Form