USBE Monthly Newsletter-- July

Happy Back to School Attendance Leaders,

We hope all had an enjoyable and relaxing summer and are looking forward to starting a new school year. We want to make sure you know of all the attendance resources that are available to you as you begin this year. We are also happy to help individually if you have any questions. Please check out the information below and reach out if you have any questions. Good luck starting the new school year!

USBE Attendance Specialists

Utah Success Stories and Celebrations

Legacy Preparatory Academy

This month we would like to highlight the awesome attendance work happening at Legacy Preparatory Academy. They have weekly newsletters that they send to families where they remind them about the importance of attending school and how it impacts all aspects of a student’s success in school and out of school. They also utilize social media posts to emphasize the importance of being at school and highlight those students and classes who have high attendance rates. They make individual phone calls home to families with students with excessive tardies and absences. They also joined our Statewide Attendance Challenge as part of the Statewide Attendance Campaign, Every Day Counts, committing to working hard to reduce chronic absenteeism and increase daily attendance at their school. They are working hard all around their school to focus on attendance and stay positive. We appreciate their awesome example!

Cache School District

This month we would like to highlight the awesome attendance work happening in Cache School District. They have joined our Statewide Attendance Challenge as part of our Statewide Attendance Campaign, Every Day Counts, as well as joining the USBE Engagement and Attendance Cohort for this school year. They are engaging with a lot of support and learning from other LEAs across Utah. They send out positive updates about schools in their parent communications as a way to build commitment for positive school attendance between schools and families. They have also started a process of reviewing and updating their attendance policy and procedures. They utilize SafeArrival as a tool to help parents get notices about attendance as well. They are also working hard on their attendance letters and communication tools with parents. It is obvious that they are working hard and strengthening their relationships between school and home for all of their students. We appreciate the hard work they are putting into attendance and the great example they are to so many others around the state!

Attendance Webinar Series Information

We are looking forward to hosting our first webinar for the 2026-2027 school year on September 15, 2026 at 10:30am. We will be focusing on connections for our webinar series this school year. Please use this September Webinar Registration Link to register for our September Attendance Webinar. We are grateful for those of you who were able to join us for our July summer webinar. If you missed it or any other webinars, here is link to the USBE Attendance YouTube Channel where you can find the recording for this webinar and all previous webinars. You can also find the slides in the USBE Absenteeism and Truancy Prevention website under the "Resources" tab.

Every Day Counts Statewide Attendance Campaign

We are excited to announce that the Statewide Attendance Campaign, Every Day Counts will be continuing for the 2026-2027 school year. There are multiple ways to get involved! You can consider becoming a Statewide Attendance Ambassador or joining the new 2026-2027 Statewide Attendance Challenge. We have a lot of resources that are readily available that you can use as you are communicating with all of your stakeholders. Please see the USBE Absenteeism and Truancy Prevention website under the "Attendance Campaign" tab.

New Attendance Legislation

Please see the following information about the attendance legislation that was passed during the 2026 Utah Legislative Session. Please make sure that your attendance and school/LEA policies reflect these changes.

HB 145

Allows parents to provide any reason to excuse a student’s absence from school as long as the student’s GPA is at or above 2.0.
Specifically includes events such as mountain biking and shooting sports or a youth development program that USU administers which provide education experiences as excused absences or valid excuses (not school excused absences).

HB 502

Allows 7-12th grade teachers to base up to 10% of final grades on class attendance. LEAs may create an attendance grading policy for no more than 20% of a student grade.

SB 58

Clarifies definitions around attendance.
Requires LEAs to develop policies and procedures for attendance tracking, intervention, and enforcement and conduct regular reviews of student attendance data.
LEA governing boards also are required to review attendance data.
Requires LEAs to ensure that SIS data is accurate.
Requires LEAs to notify parents within two instructional days of a student’s unexcused absences, including the total number for the school year.

September Attendance Awareness Month Resources

Did you know that September is Attendance Awareness Month? What does this mean to you? Well this is a great time to highlight the attendance work you are doing at your school and in your LEA. Students' attendance at the start of the school year is a great indicator of what their attendance will look like for the rest of the school year. Start strong and stay positive with students and families!

Resources–

USBE Attendance Parent Handout

Attendance Works Campaign Resources

Attendance Awareness Month: Addressing Chronic Absenteeism

Other ideas– share your attendance policy and procedures with students, parents and all stakeholders, hold attendance incentives or spirit days, run an attendance campaign, teach students about attendance behaviors, join the Statewide Attendance Challenge, etc.

Helpful Attendance Articles and Resources

Upcoming Dates/Information

August 3&11, 2026- Engagement and Attendance Cohort Meeting
September 2026- Attendance Awareness Month
September 15, 2026- Attendance Webinar

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