What to Do About Excessive Absences?

My major project for this year is attendance. My plan has been working to implement a school wide protocol to decrease excessive absences. I organized a committee of staff members (teachers, a counselor, and administrators) to help make decisions regarding monthly monitoring of attendance. Up until this point, my plan has gone well. We reward students monthly and on a nine week basis. I’ve had several students and parents make positive comments that they are trying to attain the attendance goals that we have set. Overall, I am accomplishing the task of drawing attention to our attendance issues. The problem with my project is with excessive, chronic absences, as would be the problem at any school. However, I feel like I have now hit a "roadblock." Our district policy on attendance states “A complaint will be filed in the appropriate court on the sixth (6th) unexcused absence and on each unexcused absence from that point forward.” I have a list of students (approximately 10-15) who have in excess of 6 absences that haven’t been excused and who have now been referred to our central office. We have sent 5-day letters both by regular mail and certified mail and these parents are not complying. Upon discussions with our county attendance person, some of the children are “too little”  to refer to court. The children in question are in kindergarten and first grade. My research says that chronic absenteeism in early childhood education can definitely impact academics (Attendance in the Early Grades). My dilemma is what my next step should be. We’ve called parents, sent information and letters to homes, even tried to catch parents out in the parking lot, but what else can be done to further hold parents accountable? And if I turn this over to central office, what should my expectations be for getting results? I’m not sure what I now need to do to fix this problem. I don’t feel that I have the authority to push further. Yet, I have teachers asking me often what I’m going to do about their student who has X number of absences and tardies and how that student’s absence from school will affect test scores and their evaluations in the future. Is the reality that there is just nothing that can be done? My husband is an attorney and does juvenile work in other counties where parents can spend the weekend in jail for their child's excessive absences. Certainly, I do not want to send parents to jail. However, I'm really in a quandary about students who come to school and tell their teacher that they didn't attend the day before because "their mom didn't get up in time" or "they didn't have their clothes ready to wear, so mom said they could stay home." In elementary school, we cannot rely on the students to get themselves to school. We must rely on the adults, and if the adults are not complying, who do we turn to next??