General Assembly Raised Bill No. 363
February Session, 2018 LCO No. 1975
*01975_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 363
February Session, 2018
LCO No. 1975
*01975_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING IMMUNIZATION RECORDS, THE DEFINITION OF CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES CONCERNING TRUANTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-198b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
On or before July 1, 2012, the State Board of Education shall define "excused absence" and "unexcused absence", [and] on or before January 1, 2016, the State Board of Education shall define "disciplinary absence", [for use by local] and on or before July 1, 2019, the State Board of Education shall define "immunization records absence" related to the failure or inability of a parent or guardian to submit a child's immunization records to a local or regional board of education in violation of section 10-204a. Local and regional boards of education shall use such definitions for the [purposes] purpose of carrying out the provisions of section 10-198a, reporting truancy, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-220, and calculating the district chronic absenteeism rate and the school chronic absenteeism rate pursuant to section 10-198c, as amended by this act.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-198c of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Chronically absent child" means a child who is enrolled in a school under the jurisdiction of a local or regional board of education and whose total number of absences at any time during a school year is equal to or greater than ten per cent of the total number of days that such student has been enrolled at such school during such school year;
(2) "Absence" means an excused absence, unexcused absence or disciplinary absence, as those terms are defined by the State Board of Education pursuant to section 10-198b, as amended by this act. "Absence" does not include an immunization records absence, as defined by the State Board of Education pursuant to section 10-198b, as amended by this act;
(3) "District chronic absenteeism rate" means the total number of chronically absent children under the jurisdiction of a local or regional board of education in the previous school year divided by the total number of children under the jurisdiction of such board for such school year; and
(4) "School chronic absenteeism rate" means the total number of chronically absent children for a school in the previous school year divided by the total number of children enrolled in such school for such school year.
Sec. 3. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 10-198a of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) For purposes of this section and sections 10-198c and 10-220, "truant" means a child age five to eighteen, inclusive, who is enrolled in a public or private school and has four unexcused absences from school in any one month or ten unexcused absences from school in any school year.
(b) Each local and regional board of education shall adopt and implement policies and procedures concerning truants who are enrolled in schools under the jurisdiction of such board of education. Such policies and procedures shall include, but need not be limited to, the following: (1) [The holding of a meeting] A requirement that contact be made with the parent of each child who is a truant, or other person having control of such child, [and] by the appropriate school personnel to review and evaluate the reasons for the child being a truant, provided such [meeting] contact shall be [held] made not later than ten school days after the child's fourth unexcused absence in a month or tenth unexcused absence in a school year, (2) coordinating services with and referrals of children to community agencies providing child and family services, (3) annually at the beginning of the school year and upon any enrollment during the school year, notifying the parent or other person having control of each child enrolled in a grade from kindergarten to eight, inclusive, in the public schools in writing of the obligations of the parent or such other person pursuant to section 10-184, (4) annually at the beginning of the school year and upon any enrollment during the school year, obtaining from the parent or other person having control of each child in a grade from kindergarten to eight, inclusive, a telephone number or other means of contacting such parent or such other person during the school day, (5) on or before August 15, 2018, the implementation of a truancy intervention model identified by the Department of Education pursuant to section 10-198e for any school under its jurisdiction that has a disproportionately high rate of truancy, as determined by the Commissioner of Education, and (6) a system of monitoring individual unexcused absences of children in grades kindergarten to eight, inclusive, which shall provide that whenever a child enrolled in school in any such grade fails to report to school on a regularly scheduled school day and no indication has been received by school personnel that the child's parent or other person having control of the child is aware of the pupil's absence, a reasonable effort to notify, by telephone and by mail, the parent or such other person shall be made by school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel. Any person who, in good faith, gives or fails to give notice pursuant to subdivision (6) of this subsection shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, which might otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity with respect to any judicial proceeding which results from such notice or failure to give such notice.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2018 10-198b
Sec. 2 July 1, 2018 10-198c(a)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2018 10-198a(a) and (b)
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2018
10-198b
Sec. 2
July 1, 2018
10-198c(a)
Sec. 3
July 1, 2018
10-198a(a) and (b)
Statement of Purpose:
To require the State Board of Education to define "immunization records absence" for the purpose of excluding such absences from the calculation of a school district's chronic absenteeism rate, and to replace the requirement that a meeting be held with a requirement that contact be made with the parent or guardian of a student who is truant.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]