{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-159.150","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 159.150","heading":"Definitions of truant and habitual truant -- Attendance record","body":"requirements -- Adoption of truancy policies by local school boards --\nImplementation of early intervention and prevention programs.\n(1) Any student who has attained the age of six (6) y ears, but has not reached his or her\neighteenth birthday, who has been absent from school without valid excuse for three\n(3) or more days, or tardy without valid excuse on three (3) or more days, is a\ntruant.\n(2) Any student enrolled in a public school who  has attained the age of eighteen (18)\nyears, but has not reached his or her twenty-first birthday, who has been absent from\nschool without valid excuse for three (3) or more days, or tardy without valid\nexcuse on three (3) or more days, is a truant.\n(3) Any student who has been reported as a truant two (2) or more times is an habitual\ntruant.\n(4) For the purposes of establishing a student's status as a truant, the student's\nattendance record is cumulative for an entire school year. If a student transfers f rom\none (1) Kentucky public school to another during a school year, the receiving school\nshall incorporate the attendance information provided under KRS 159.170 in the\nstudent's official attendance record.\n(5) A local board of education may adopt reasonable policies that:\n(a) Require students to comply with compulsory attendance laws;\n(b) Require truants and habitual truants to make up unexcused absences;\n(c) Impose sanctions for noncompliance; and\n(d) Collaborate and cooperate with the Court of Justice, th e Department for\nCommunity Based Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, regional\ncommunity mental health centers, and other service providers to implement\nand utilize early intervention and prevention programs, such as truancy\ndiversion, truancy boa rds, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution to\nreduce referrals to a court-designated worker.","path":["KRS Chapter 159"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43959","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:07Z","sha256":"548a198f501ecfc998c7c52f3491e14fd61aa47f024b627e3e719ef821bbe097","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-159.140","next":"us-ky/krs-159.152"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}