|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to an attendance policy adopted by public schools to |
|
prevent truancy. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is |
|
amended by adding Section 25.0916 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 25.0916. ATTENDANCE POLICY. (a) In this section, |
|
"parent" includes a person standing in parental relation. |
|
(b) The board of trustees of each school district and the |
|
governing body of each open-enrollment charter school shall adopt |
|
and implement an attendance policy to: |
|
(1) inform students and parents regarding the |
|
importance of regular attendance; and |
|
(2) provide appropriate supports to students who fail |
|
to regularly attend school. |
|
(c) An attendance policy adopted under this section must: |
|
(1) describe the benefits of regular attendance; |
|
(2) describe the consequences of failing to regularly |
|
attend school, including the negative effects on: |
|
(A) a student's academic progress; and |
|
(B) a student and the student's family as a |
|
result of referral to a truancy court for truant conduct under |
|
Section 65.003(a), Family Code; |
|
(3) provide for a parent of a student enrolled in the |
|
district or school to elect to receive notifications of the |
|
student's absence from school for a day or part of a day, regardless |
|
of whether the student's absence is excused or unexcused, through: |
|
(A) e-mail or text message, if the district or |
|
school has the capability to send notifications through those |
|
methods; or |
|
(B) first class mail, if the district or school |
|
does not have the capability to send notifications as provided by |
|
Paragraph (A); |
|
(4) provide for a meeting between a parent of a student |
|
enrolled in the district or school and a school counselor, |
|
principal, or appropriate administrator when the student becomes at |
|
risk for engaging in truant conduct under Section 65.003, Family |
|
Code, as provided by the policy, to discuss the student's behavior |
|
and any conditions at the student's home that may be contributing to |
|
the student's failure to attend school; |
|
(5) if a parent of a student enrolled in the district |
|
or school fails to attend a meeting described by Subdivision (4), |
|
authorize the school attendance officer to make a home visit or |
|
otherwise contact the parent in the manner described by Section |
|
25.091 to investigate the student's behavior and living conditions |
|
and report the attendance officer's findings to the district or |
|
school; and |
|
(6) establish guidelines to identify a student in need |
|
of additional support and to refer the student to in-school or |
|
out-of-school services aimed at addressing the student's failure to |
|
regularly attend school. |
|
(d) At the beginning of each school year, each school |
|
district or open-enrollment charter school shall provide a copy of |
|
the attendance policy adopted under this section to the parent of |
|
each student enrolled in the district or school. |
|
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 |
|
school year. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |