In the past parents were able to call into their child's school when they were absent and it would be marked as excused....this year the Washoe County School District is making some changes to that policy.

The new rule requires that parents need to call into the school or send a note within three days of their child being absent, as well as the student making up all the work and turning it in before changing the missing days to an excused absent. "Retention can be avoided if students just make up their work, parents need to make sure that their students got their make-up work and they turned it in," says Bryn Lapenta, the Senior Director Student Accounting with the school district.

Last year 19% of students were considered chronically absent and with this new change the school district hopes to lower that number. But what happens if your child becomes sick for a long period of time? The school district says they will work with you and your child to make sure all work is turned in and help change those unexcused absences to excused. "Students get the number of days they are absent, plus one, starting on the day the teacher gives them the work so they have extra time," says Lapenta. 

Elementary and middle school students can miss up to unexcused 17 days of a year before being considered chronically absent and are in danger of being held back. High school students can only miss up to 10% of the school year.

The school district says you should ask your high school how many number of days can be missed before being considered chronically absent.