South Carolina has three state-defined truancy levels: Truant, Habitual, and Chronic. Each level has specific attendance criteria, age requirements, and behavior/action codes. Districts may also choose to configure additional levels in simpldiscipline to provide earlier warnings, create consistent intervention processes, or monitor students who fall outside of the state's defined truancy age ranges.
South Carolina State-Defined Truancy Levels
The following three levels are defined by South Carolina truancy requirements.
1. Truant
A student is considered Truant when the student:
- Is age 6–16; and
- Has 3 consecutive UX absences OR 5 total UX absences; and
- Has 0 minutes present for those absence dates.
At this level, the student should be coded with:
- 151 Behavior Code
- Intervention Plan – Original Action Code
Important: An Attendance Intervention Plan (AIP) must be created for every truant student, regardless of parent participation.
Best practice is to make at least three good-faith attempts to include the parent or guardian in the creation of the AIP. These attempts may include:
- Letters
- Phone calls
- Other documented communication attempts
A parent or guardian may participate in the AIP process:
- By phone
- Through a virtual meeting
- In person
If the parent or guardian does not participate or refuses to sign the plan, the AIP must still be established and sent to the parent.
The student should still be coded with the 151 Behavior Code and the Intervention Plan – Original action. Additional action codes may also be used to document the circumstances, such as:
- No Show for Attendance Intervention Plan
- Refused to Sign Attendance Intervention Plan
- Other applicable district-defined documentation codes
These additional codes do not exempt the school from creating the AIP.
All truant students must have an AIP created and sent to the parent or guardian, whether or not the parent participates.
The AIP date should be:
- The date the AIP meeting was held; or
- If the parent did not participate, the date the completed plan was sent to the parent or guardian.
2. Habitual
A student is considered Habitual when the student:
- Is age 12–16;
- Has an established Attendance Intervention Plan (AIP); and
- Accrues 2 additional UX absences after the date of the AIP.
At this level, the student requires the 152 Behavior Code.
Do not create a separate truancy incident.
The 152 behavior should be added to the same incident that already contains the 151 behavior. A student should have one continuing truancy incident containing both the 151 and 152 behaviors.
Habitual Truancy Is Not Simply 7 UX Absences
A common misconception is that a student automatically becomes Habitual after reaching 7 UX absences. This is not how Habitual Truancy is determined.
While PowerSchool includes a report that identifies students with 7 UX absences, that report is informational only.
Habitual status is based on the number of UX absences that occur after the AIP is established.
For example:
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A student could become Habitual with as few as 5 total UX absences. For example, the student has 3 consecutive UX absences, becomes Truant, an AIP is established, and then the student accrues 2 additional UX absences.
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A student could have an unlimited number of UX absences and never become Habitual if an AIP has not been established.
The AIP date is critical.
simpldiscipline determines Habitual status by identifying UX absences that occur after the date of the established AIP.
3. Chronic
A student is considered Chronic when the student:
- Is age 12–16;
- Is under a court order for attendance; and
- Has 1 additional UX absence after the court order.
At this level, the student requires the 153 Behavior Code.
Continue using the same truancy incident.
The 153 behavior should be added to the same incident that already contains the 151 and 152 behaviors. The student should not have separate incidents for each truancy level.
A student who progresses through all three state-defined levels should have one truancy incident containing:
- 151 – Truant
- 152 – Habitual
- 153 – Chronic
Quick Reference: State-Defined Levels
| Level |
Age |
Criteria |
Behavior / Action |
| Truant |
6–16 |
3 consecutive UX OR 5 total UX with 0 minutes present |
151 + Intervention Plan – Original |
| Habitual |
12–16 |
2 additional UX absences after the AIP date |
152 + Intervention Plan Addendum OR Truancy Contract |
| Chronic |
12–16 |
Court ordered for attendance + 1 additional UX after the court order |
153 + District Defined Actions |
Additional District-Defined Truancy Levels
Many districts choose to add additional truancy levels in simpldiscipline. These levels can provide early warning notifications, establish consistent district processes, or assist with students who fall outside the state-defined truancy age ranges.
3/4 UX – Nearing Truancy
Once a student has 3 non-consecutive UX absences, the student will appear with a truancy task.
The goal at this stage is to provide an early warning before the student meets the state-defined Truant criteria. Schools commonly:
- Send a warning letter to the family;
- Warn the family that the student is approaching truancy; and
- Attempt to obtain excuses for any applicable UX absence dates.
There is no incident component associated with this level. We recommend leaving this task open until you are no longer accepting excuses for the absences. Once a Warning task is marked Complete, simpldiscipline will not reopen it automatically. If a unexcused absence is later changed to excused, update the attendance in your SIS. Within approximately one hour, simpldiscipline will sync the updated attendance and automatically archive the task if the student no longer meets the criteria.
AIP Violation – Ages 6–11
Since a student under age 12 cannot meet the state's Habitual Truancy definition, there is no state-defined process to identify and hold accountable families of younger students who have been placed on an AIP but continue to accrue UX absences.
A student will be flagged for an AIP Violation when the student:
- Is under age 12;
- Has an established AIP; and
- Accrues 2 additional UX absences after the AIP date.
5 UX – Age 5 and Under or Age 17 and Older
Identifies students who are age 5 and under or age 17 and older who have 5 UX absences that meet the truancy criteria. This allows schools to send attendance letters to students and families to help prevent the development of poor attendance habits and/or school dropout.
7 UX – Age 5 and Under or Age 17 and Older
Identifies students who are age 5 and under or age 17 and older who have 7 UX absences that meet the truancy criteria. This allows schools to send attendance letters to students and families to help prevent the development of poor attendance habits and/or school dropout.
Key Reminders
- Truant: 3 consecutive UX or 5 total UX for students ages 6–16.
- Every Truant student must have an AIP established, even if the parent does not participate or refuses to sign.
- Habitual is not simply 7 UX absences. Habitual requires 2 UX absences after the established AIP date.
- Chronic requires a court order for attendance and an additional UX absence after that court order.
- The 151, 152, and 153 behaviors should be maintained on one continuing truancy incident, not separate incidents.
- Additional district-defined levels can be used for early intervention and for students outside of the state-defined age ranges.
