A. If a pupil in a kindergarten program or in any of grades one through eight is absent from school without excuse as provided in this article or without notice to the school in which the pupil is enrolled of authorization of the absence by the parent or other person who has custody of the pupil, the school in which the pupil is enrolled shall make a reasonable effort to promptly telephone and notify the parent or other person who has custody of the pupil of the pupil’s absence from school:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-807

  • enrollment: means that a pupil is currently registered in the school district. See Arizona Laws 15-901
  • Governing board: means a body organized for the government and management of the schools within a school district or a county school superintendent in the conduct of an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Parent: means the natural or adoptive parent of a child or a person who has custody of a child. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association or public or private organization of any kind. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • Person who has custody: means a parent or legal guardian of a child, a person to whom custody of the child has been given by order of a court or a person who stands in loco parentis to the child. See Arizona Laws 15-101
  • School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101

1. Within two hours after the first class in which the pupil is absent for a pupil in a kindergarten program or in any of grades one through six.

2. Within two hours after the first class in which the pupil is absent for a pupil in grade seven or eight if the first class in which the pupil is absent is the pupil’s first class of the school day.

3. Within five hours after the first class in which the pupil is absent for a pupil in grade seven or eight if the first class in which the pupil is absent is after the pupil’s first class of the school day.

B. On or before the enrollment of a pupil in a kindergarten program or in any of grades one through eight, the school district shall notify the parent or other person who has custody of the pupil:

1. Of the parent’s or other person’s responsibility to authorize any absence of the pupil from school and to notify the school in which the pupil is enrolled in advance or at the time of any absence.

2. That the school district requires the parent or other person who has custody to provide at least one telephone number, if available, for purposes of this section. The school district shall require that the telephone number, if available, be given at the time of enrollment of the pupil in school and that the school of enrollment be promptly notified of any change in the telephone number.

C. A school district, governing board members of a school district and employees or agents of a school district are not liable for failure to notify the parent or other person who has custody of a pupil of the pupil’s absence from school as provided in this section.

D. In identifying excused absences pursuant to section 15-901, subsection A, paragraph 1, the department of education shall identify an absence due to the mental or behavioral health of a pupil as an excused absence. The department may adopt guidelines and rules for the purposes of this subsection, including determining what constitutes an absence due to the mental or behavioral health of a pupil.