Attendance Letter Responder FLKids & School · Before the attendance letter becomes a court date
Florida

What does this attendance letter mean?

Paste the notice and say why the absences happened — illness, a family crisis, anxiety, transportation, a disability. In a few seconds you get where you are in the process, what the school must do before any referral, what counts as excused, the documentation to send, and the response letter. No account. Nothing stored.

Free first letterEnglish · EspañolNothing is storedFla. Stat. 1003.21–.27, linked
Plan active

Free — takes 30 seconds

The notice and the reason.

Paste the letter or type what it says (the count of absences, what it threatens, any meeting date), then the real reasons — illness, a diagnosis, anxiety or school refusal, a family emergency, housing, transportation — and what the school already knows.

Free. Takes a few seconds.

Why this exists

Fourteen absences with a reason is a health plan. Fourteen without paperwork is a court date.

The law makes the school meet with you, find the cause and try a plan before anything goes further — and it treats documented illness, disability and crisis differently. Most families never send the note, never ask for the plan, and show up to the meeting with nothing in writing. This writes the letter and tells you what to bring.

How it works

Thirty seconds. Then a letter and a plan, before the meeting.

01

Paste the notice and the reason

What it says, the count, what really happened. Nothing is saved.

02

See the process and your options

Which step the school is on, what counts as excused, what to ask for — in English or Spanish.

03

Respond and document

The letter, the doctor's-letter request, the 504 request and the meeting agenda, in the full version.

Plans

Checking the notice is free. The response kit is $9.

The free version tells you the stage and writes the basic response. The kit adds the documentation log, the doctor's-letter request, the 504 and homebound requests, the meeting agenda and the hearing checklist.

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Common questions

Is my child going to end up in court because of this letter?

Not automatically. Under Fla. Stat. 1003.26, the school must first contact you, hold a meeting to find out why the absences are happening, and refer your child to a child-study team that writes an attendance plan with interventions. Only if that plan fails and you don't cooperate can the district refer the case to the state attorney or file a petition under Fla. Stat. 1003.27. Paste the notice and the tool will tell you which of these steps the school is on — but it is not legal advice, so if a petition is actually filed, contact legal aid or an attorney.

Is it really free? Is what I paste stored?

The first letter is free. After that, a full response kit is $9 per notice, and ongoing help from social workers, advocates and legal aid is $49 per month. Nothing you paste is stored, and there's no account required.

What counts as an excused absence?

Excused absences — illness, medical appointments, a death in the family, religious observance, court, and others — are defined in your own district's code of student conduct, and many districts require a written excuse within a set number of days and a doctor's note after a certain number of consecutive absences. The tool can't tell you your exact day-counts because those vary by district, so check your district's policy (see FDOE — Attendance resources) for the specifics.

My child has a chronic illness or anxiety — does that change anything?

Yes — a student with a documented chronic illness or mental-health condition may be eligible for a Section 504 plan or IEP with attendance accommodations, a health plan with the school nurse, or hospital/homebound instruction if the condition keeps them out for a period. The tool can help you request a 504 evaluation in writing and point you to the IEP Letter Decoder tool, but this is not medical or legal advice — confirm eligibility and next steps with the school and a doctor.

We got a summons or a truancy petition — what now?

Attend every hearing — never skip one — and bring your documentation and the written attendance plan with you. Free help is available through FloridaLawHelp.org, and the court's stated goal is getting the child back into school, not punishing the family. This tool is not a lawyer and can be wrong, so for an actual petition, contact legal aid or an attorney.

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