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Growing up I would often get respiratory illnesses (pneumonia, bronchitis, etc) that would have me out of school for 20 to 30 days. Sometimes would require hospital stays. I always had a doctor's note and my sibling would transport my school work for me. Always made it up and maintained As and Bs

It seems the failure here is from the parent not keeping the school informed more than anything else.

I know a kid like this and it is lack of parenting. They don’t want to contrary him. They honestly don’t know or care where he is much of the time. If the kid doesn’t want to go and the parent is more worried about drugs or alcohol, it just isn’t going to happen.
Jail is actually a good motivator because they can’t get access to drugs/cigs/alcohol in jail and they know it.
It wouldn’t surprise me if there were different rules for different socio-economic situations. Note: Time spend in Juvenile detention is not considered truant.

Simple informing does not cut it anymore. I have a 10-year old who is susceptible to respiratory and stomach illnesses, most of which can be treated with OTC medication and a day home from school. He missed ten days this year, two of which were for a Thanksgiving trip home to see grandparents (counted as unexcused even though school was informed). 5 other days were for a bout of pneumonia, under doctors orders, and the other three for head colds, stomach bug, and allergies.

Needless to say, I got a nasty-gram from the school principal about three weeks ago threatening to sic the law on us if he missed any more without a doctor's note (co-pays and all). I called her up and reached a quick understanding, but the clear threat of fines and jail where in that letter, which I did not appreciate, and I told her so.

With that said, there is clear tension between pediatricians who demand that kids take days off from school to recover from their illnesses (and to not spread them), and school administrators, who want the kids there even when they are sick because of the "instructional time" pressures associated with Common Core testing.

It's becoming an untenable situation, and this lady is a fine example of what happens when you get caught up in it.