In short
Article 1.04 of Act 85-2018 says school attendance is compulsory for students between five (5) and eighteen (18) years of age. The duty to see that the student attends falls on the father, mother, guardian or person in charge, and no student may be outside an educational program until finishing high school or its equivalent. The part that surprises people: a parent, guardian or person in charge who encourages, permits or tolerates absence for a period equal to or greater than three (3) consecutive days without just cause — or who neglects the duty to ensure attendance — and who has already received a warning about the failure, commits a misdemeanour. The penalty is a fine of up to one thousand (1,000) dollars, or community service at the very institution the student attends for a minimum of one hundred (100) hours, or both, at the Court’s discretion. It is also an administrative fault that could carry cancellation of Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, public housing programs and subsidized housing programs. Before it gets there, there are warnings: the school keeps a daily attendance record and notifies parents of absences monthly, and weekly if a pattern exists.
What is it?
It is Puerto Rico’s compulsory attendance rule, and it lives in a single article of the Education Reform Act. It sets the mandatory age range (5 to 18), places responsibility on the adult in charge, lists the exceptions, and charges the Secretary of Education — together with regional superintendents and school principals — with building the machinery: a daily attendance record using the Department’s technological systems, a system for notifying parents of absences, the steps the school will take for students with attendance problems, and incentives for the parent who complies. Each school must also develop a strategic plan to prevent continued absence from the classroom.
Who can do it?
It applies to every student between 5 and 18 and to the father, mother, guardian or person in charge. The article exempts from compulsory attendance: high academic achievers; gifted students — defined in the law as those with an IQ equal to or greater than 130 who demonstrate, through psychological and educational evaluations by State-certified professionals, high intellectual, creative, artistic or leadership capacity; students participating in an alternate primary and secondary education program or its equivalent; and students enrolled in an adult secondary education program or other programs preparing them for readmission to regular day schools, or who have taken the high school equivalency exam.
Requirements
- That the student between 5 and 18 attends school; responsibility for attendance belongs to the father, mother, guardian or person in charge.Verified against the official source
- That the student is not outside an educational program until finishing high school or its equivalent.Verified against the official source
- To take the student off school grounds during school hours: express authorization from the parent, guardian or person in charge, under the regulation the law orders the Secretary to establish.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Information pending verification.
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Count the days, not the hours
The threshold the law names is three (3) or more consecutive days without just cause. The law does not define just cause, nor how many excused absences the system allows: that sits in the Department’s regulation and each school’s policy. If your child is heading toward three straight days, the conversation with the school is now, not later.
Step 2: Expect — and keep — the school’s notice
The law orders a system for notifying parents of absences: monthly, and weekly if a pattern exists. That notice matters for two reasons. First, because the criminal penalty in subsection (c) applies "after having received a warning about the failure". Second, because if it never reached you, that is a fact too: the daily attendance record and its notification are the school’s responsibility.
Step 3: Ask for the steps the school must take
The regulation the law orders must include "the steps the school will develop to address cases of students with class attendance problems", and each school must develop a strategic plan to prevent continued absence. If the problem is bullying, transportation, health or a hospitalization, specific laws open different doors; ask for them by name at the school.
Step 4: If the student cannot attend for health reasons
Absence for prolonged illness or hospitalization has its own path: Act 164-2024 on Hospital Education creates a program so the student keeps studying from the hospital or during prolonged treatment, with an Individualized Hospital Education Program. And specifically for type 1 and type 2 diabetes, Act 199-2015 provides that absences or tardiness related to the condition shall not be penalized.
Step 5: Know what is at stake
A misdemeanour, with a fine of up to $1,000 or a minimum of 100 hours of community service at the institution the student attends, or both, at the Court’s discretion. And an administrative fault that, per the text, could carry cancellation of Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, public housing programs and subsidized housing programs. The law does not describe the procedure for that cancellation; if such a notice arrives, that is the moment to seek legal advice.
Where to do it
All of this is handled first at the school, with the principal, on whom the law places responsibility for compulsory attendance being met. Above that is the Regional Education Office for your school, and then the Department of Education at de.pr.gov. Each school’s attendance reports must be available monthly on the Department’s website, and the "Reporte de Deserción Escolar en Puerto Rico" is published at the end of each semester.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
Two gaps worth naming rather than filling. One: the law does not define "just cause", so the excused-absence policy is set by the Department’s regulation and the school — ask for it in writing before arguing a case. Two: the law exempts from compulsory attendance students participating in "an alternate primary and secondary education program or its equivalent", but never defines that term anywhere in the text. Anyone asking about homeschooling in Puerto Rico is asking about that phrase; the responsible answer is that the law mentions it without defining it and refers to the Secretary’s regulation — not that "homeschooling is allowed" nor that "it is prohibited".
Common mistakes
- Believing the duty ends at 16: the article says from five (5) to eighteen (18) years of age.
- Thinking absenteeism is only a school matter: the text makes it a misdemeanour for the adult in charge.
- Ignoring the monthly absence notice; the penalty applies "after having received a warning".
- Not knowing the administrative fault can reach PAN and public or subsidized housing programs.
- Taking the student off school grounds during school hours without the express authorization the regulation requires.
- Looking in this law for how many excused absences the system allows: it is not there, it is in the regulation and the school’s policy.
Frequently asked questions
Until what age is school compulsory?
Until eighteen (18). Article 1.04 of Act 85-2018 makes attendance compulsory for students between five (5) and eighteen (18), and adds that no student may be outside an educational program until finishing high school or its equivalent.
Can I be fined if my child misses school?
The law contemplates it. A parent, guardian or person in charge who encourages, permits or tolerates absence for three (3) or more consecutive days without just cause, or who neglects the duty to ensure attendance, and who has already received a warning about the failure, commits a misdemeanour: a fine of up to $1,000, or a minimum of 100 hours of community service at the institution the student attends, or both, at the Court’s discretion.
Can absenteeism affect PAN or housing?
Per the text, yes: the same conduct is also an administrative fault that could carry cancellation of benefits under the Nutrition Assistance Program, public housing programs and subsidized housing programs. The law does not detail the procedure, so a notice of that kind is handled with legal advice, not by phone.
What if I homeschool my child?
The law exempts students participating in "an alternate primary and secondary education program or its equivalent", but never defines that phrase anywhere in the text and delegates the procedure to the Secretary’s regulation. From this law we cannot tell you what the Department requires to recognize such a program: that must be asked directly at the Department of Education.
Can they let my child leave school without telling me?
The law flatly prohibits students leaving school grounds during school hours and during any recess from teaching activity, and makes the principal and the teacher jointly responsible for such unscheduled absence, with a consequence in their evaluation if they cannot show clear and forceful efforts to prevent it. The Secretary’s regulation must contain at least a provision on express authorization by the parent, guardian or person in charge.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico
Educación
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
- Puerto Rico Department of Education
Educación
de.pr.gov
Last verified
August 23, 2026
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