Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 299.1 (2026)

Attendance requirements — attendance policies

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section IA-LEGlegis.iowa.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

1. Except as provided in section 299.2, the parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian of a child who is of compulsory attendance age shall cause the child to attend some public school or an accredited nonpublic school, or place the child under competent private instruction or independent private instruction in accordance with the provisions of chapter 299A, during a school year, as defined under section 279.10.

2. a. The board of directors of a public school district or the governing body of an accredited nonpublic school shall set the number of days or hours of required attendance for the schools under its control.

b. The board of directors of a public school district or the governing body of an accredited nonpublic school may, by resolution, require attendance for the entire time when the schools are in session in any school year.

3. The board of directors of a public school district shall adopt a policy related to absenteeism and truancy. The policy may contain attendance requirements that are more stringent than the attendance requirements established under this chapter.

4. a. The board of directors of a public school district shall adopt a policy or rules relating to children who are chronically absent. The policy or rules must contain provisions that clearly explain all of the following:

(1) How the board of directors determines whether a child is chronically absent.

(2) The different interventions that the board of directors may use when a child is chronically absent.

(3) The different penalties associated with a child being chronically absent.

b. The policy or rules adopted by the board of directors of a public school district pursuant to paragraph “a” must not apply to any child:

(1) Who has completed the requirements for graduation in a public school district or has obtained a high school equivalency diploma under chapter 259A.

(2) Who is excused for sufficient reason by any court of record or judge.

(3) While attending religious services or receiving religious instructions.

(4) Who is unable to attend school due to legitimate medical reasons.

(5) Who has an individualized education program that affects the child’s attendance.\n\nTue Dec 09 22:17:19 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 299 (31, 3) §299.1, COMPULSORY EDUCATION 2\n\n (6) Who has a plan under section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. §794, that affects the child’s attendance.

(7) Who is a military applicant undergoing military entrance processing.

(8) Who is engaged in military service.

(9) Who is traveling to attend a funeral.

(10) Who is traveling to attend a wedding.

(11) While attending a course in religious instruction pursuant to section 299.1D.

c. The policy or rules adopted by the board of directors of a public school district pursuant to paragraph “a” must describe how the exceptions described in paragraph “b” may be met by a child and must give reasonable consideration to travel time. [S13, §2823-a; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §4410; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §299.1] 83 Acts, ch 17, §2, 4; 85 Acts, ch 6, §3; 88 Acts, ch 1087, §2; 88 Acts, ch 1259, §2, 3; 89 Acts, ch 265, §41; 91 Acts, ch 200, §3; 2010 Acts, ch 1061, §50; 2013 Acts, ch 121, §83, 85, 91; 2024 Acts, ch 1152, §14; 2025 Acts, ch 52, §2, 3; 2025 Acts, ch 143, §1 Referred to in §234.4, 279.10, 299.1D, 299.2, 299.6, 299.8, 299.11, 299A.1, 321.178A See Code editor’s note on simple harmonization at the beginning of this Code volume Subsection 4, paragraph b, NEW subparagraphs (7) – (11) Subsection 4, NEW paragraph c \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 15 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1947–2021 · leading case: State v. Trucke, 410 N.W.2d 242 (Iowa 1987).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

State v. Trucke, 410 N.W.2d 242 (Iowa 1987). · cites it 44× “Iowa Code § 299.1 (1987). I agree with the observation "[i]t is the recalcitrance of the person in control or charge of a child or children which constitutes the offense.”

Johnson v. Charles City Cmty. Schs. Bd. of Educ., 368 N.W.2d 74 (Iowa 1985). · cites it 28× “The parents were charged with violating Iowa's compulsory attendance law, Iowa Code section 299.1 (1983). The section is quite typical in that it places the sanction for failure to attend on the parent rather than the child.”

State v. Moorhead, 308 N.W.2d 60 (Iowa 1981). · cites it 20× “Defendants, Norman and Linda Moor-head, appeal from their simple misdemean- or convictions of violating the compulsory education requirements of section 299.1, The Code 1979. We affirm. On October 16, 1979, defendants were charged by a document entitled “information” with…”

Trucke v. Erlemeier, 657 F. Supp. 1382 (N.D. Iowa 1987). · cites it 14× “Iowa Code § 299.1 (1985). The Iowa District Court for Monona County found that at the beginning of the 1985-86 school year, Greg and Karen Trucke provided most of the instruction in the home school, but neither was a certified teacher.”

State v. Wilt, 333 N.W.2d 457 (Iowa 1983). · cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 299.1 (1981). We looked to the general legislative intent underlying the statute— implementing the constitutional mandate of public education for all children — and ruled the equivalent instruction provision merely was intended to provide an exception to the…”

State v. Taggart, 430 N.W.2d 423 (Iowa 1988). · cites it 2× “*426 In Truche, we reversed the convictions of two parents found guilty of violating Iowa’s compulsory education law, Iowa Code section 299.1 (1985). We noted in our decision Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 10(2)(b) which provides in part: Any defense, objection, or request…”

Fellowship Baptist Church v. Benton, 620 F. Supp. 308 (S.D. Iowa 1985). · cites it 4× “Imposition of Iowa’s School Regulatory Scheme Upon the Plaintiffs Violates Rights of Plaintiffs Protected By The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and by Article I, Sections 3 and 4 of the Iowa Constitution.”

Silver Lake Consol. Sch. Dist. v. Parker, 29 N.W.2d 214 (Iowa 1947). · cites it 4× “The compulsory-attendance law is found in section 299.1 of the Code, and provides: “Any person having control of any child over seven and under sixteen years of age, in proper physical and mental condition to attend school, shall cause said child to attend some public or…”

State v. Bear, 452 N.W.2d 430 (Iowa 1990). · cites it 2× “Anna and Archie were each charged with three counts of violating Iowa’s compulsory school attendance laws, Iowa Code section 299.1 and 299.6 (1987), by failing to cause Barry to attend school during the 1987-88 school year.”

In the Interest of B.B., 440 N.W.2d 594 (Iowa 1989). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code §§ 299.1 , 299.6. She received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation on the condition that she give assurances that Barry would attend school regularly.”

Sheridan Road Baptist Church v. Dep't of Educ., 396 N.W.2d 373 (Mich. 1986). “The few states currently imposing such regulations, other than Michigan, are: Hawaii (Hawaii Rev Stat, § 297-2), Idaho (Idaho Code 33-1201), South Dakota (SD Codified Laws Ann 13-4-2), Iowa (Iowa Code Ann, § 299.1), and Washington (Wash Rev Code Ann 28A.”

Fellowship Baptist Church v. Benton, 815 F.2d 485 (8th Cir. 1987). · cites it 6× “” Iowa Code § 299.1 . Finally, the state has determined that parents of children in the plaintiff schools are not entitled to the “Amish exemption” to the above requirements, see Iowa Code § 299.”

Show all 15 citing cases →

— Iowa Code § 299.1(2) — 1 case

Hills & Dales Child Dev. Ctr. v. Iowa Dep't of Educ. & Keystone Area Educ. Agency & Dubuque Cmty. Sch. Dist., Intervenors (Iowa 2021).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.