By Luna H.B. No. 440
76R2736 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public school attendance.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 25.087(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 (a) A child required to attend school may be excused for
1-7 temporary absence resulting from any cause acceptable to the
1-8 teacher, principal, or superintendent of the school in which the
1-9 child is enrolled. A teacher, principal, or superintendent may not
1-10 excuse an absence under this subsection resulting from the
1-11 voluntary absence of a child from the child's home that is without
1-12 the consent of the child's parent or guardian and is for a
1-13 substantial length of time or without intent to return.
1-14 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is
1-15 amended by adding Section 25.0911 to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 25.0911. SERVICE OF LEGAL PROCESS. A school district
1-17 administrator, school administrator, or constable designated in
1-18 writing by an attendance officer may serve legal process under the
1-19 same circumstances and in the same manner as an attendance officer
1-20 under Section 25.091.
1-21 SECTION 3. Section 25.093, Education Code, is amended to
1-22 read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 25.093. THWARTING COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE LAW. (a) If
1-24 any parent of a child required to attend school fails to require
2-1 the child to attend school as required by law, the school
2-2 attendance officer shall warn the parent [in writing] that
2-3 attendance is immediately required. A warning for purposes of this
2-4 subsection may be an actual warning or a warning in writing that:
2-5 (1) is sent by:
2-6 (A) registered or certified mail with return
2-7 receipt requested;
2-8 (B) telegram with report of delivery requested;
2-9 or
2-10 (C) first class mail if the letter was returned
2-11 unopened with markings indicating that the address is incorrect and
2-12 that there is no current forwarding order; and
2-13 (2) is addressed to the parent at the parent's address
2-14 shown on school records.
2-15 (b) A warning given in accordance with Subsections (a)(1)
2-16 and (2) is presumed to have been received not later than the fifth
2-17 day after the date the warning was sent.
2-18 (c) If, after a warning under Subsection (a), the parent
2-19 with criminal negligence fails to require the child to attend
2-20 school as required by law and the child has unexcused voluntary
2-21 absences for the amount of time specified under Section
2-22 51.03(b)(2), Family Code, the parent commits an offense.
2-23 (d) [(c)] The attendance officer shall file a complaint
2-24 against the parent in the county court, in a justice court in the
2-25 county in which the parent resides or in which the school is
2-26 located, or in a municipal court of the municipality in which the
2-27 parent resides or in which the school is located. The attendance
3-1 officer shall file a complaint under this section in the court to
3-2 which the parent's child has been referred for engaging in conduct
3-3 described in Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code, if a referral has
3-4 been made for the child. If a referral has not been made, the
3-5 attendance officer shall refer the child to the county juvenile
3-6 probation department for action as engaging in conduct indicating a
3-7 need for supervision under that section.
3-8 (e) [(d)] A court in which a complaint is filed under this
3-9 section shall give preference to a hearing on the complaint over
3-10 other cases before the court.
3-11 (f) [(e)] An offense under this section is a Class C
3-12 misdemeanor. Each day the child remains out of school after the
3-13 warning has been given or the child has been ordered to attend
3-14 school by the juvenile court may constitute a separate offense.
3-15 Two or more offenses under this section may be consolidated and
3-16 prosecuted in a single action. If the court probates the sentence,
3-17 the court may require the defendant to render personal services to
3-18 a charitable or educational institution as a condition of
3-19 probation.
3-20 (g) [(f)] A fine collected under this section shall be
3-21 deposited as follows:
3-22 (1) one-half shall be deposited to the credit of the
3-23 operating fund of the school district in which the child attends
3-24 school; and
3-25 (2) one-half shall be deposited to the credit of:
3-26 (A) the general fund of the county, if the
3-27 complaint is filed in the county court or justice court; or
4-1 (B) the general fund of the municipality, if the
4-2 complaint is filed in municipal court.
4-3 (h) [(g)] At the trial of any person charged with violating
4-4 this section, the attendance records of the child may be presented
4-5 in court by any authorized employee of the school district.
4-6 (i) [(h)] The court in which a conviction for an offense
4-7 under this section occurs may order the defendant to attend a class
4-8 for parents of students with unexcused absences that provides
4-9 instruction designed to assist those parents in identifying
4-10 problems that contribute to the students' unexcused absences and in
4-11 developing strategies for resolving those problems if the school
4-12 district in which the person resides offers such a class.
4-13 (j) [(i)] In this section, "parent" includes a person
4-14 standing in parental relation.
4-15 SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2000-2001
4-16 school year.
4-17 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-23 passage, and it is so enacted.