Introduced Version
SENATE BILL No. 482
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 20-18-2-2.4; IC 20-19-3; IC 20-33.
Synopsis: Absenteeism. Defines "chronically absent". Requires the
department of education (department) to do the following: (1) Establish
a categorization framework to distinguish between excused and
unexcused absences based on the reason for the absence. (2) Collect
certain information regarding absences from school corporations and
charter schools. (3) Prepare and submit a report regarding the
information collected. Provides that the absence policy adopted by the
governing body of a school corporation must provide for the
categorization of excused and unexcused absences in accordance with
the categorization framework established by the department. Allows a
prosecuting attorney to hold intervention meetings before filing an
affidavit with the court regarding a habitual truant. Amends the
definition of "absent student" for purposes of the truancy prevention
policy provisions. Requires a public school to hold an attendance
conference not later than 10 instructional days (instead of five
instructional days) after the student's fifth absence. Prohibits a public
school from expelling a student solely because the student is
chronically absent or a habitual truant. Makes a conforming change.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Donato, Rogers
January 13, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Education and Career
Development.
2025 IN 482—LS 7271/DI 110 Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
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Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
SENATE BILL No. 482
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 20-18-2-2.4 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
2 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
3 1, 2025]: Sec. 2.4. "Chronically absent" means missing ten percent
4 (10%) or more of a school year for any reason.
5 SECTION 2. IC 20-19-3-12.2, AS AMENDED BY P.L.233-2015,
6 SECTION 37, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
7 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 12.2. (a) The department shall make reduction of
8 absenteeism in schools a policy priority and provide assistance and
9 guidance to school corporations and schools in:
10 (1) identifying contributing factors of absenteeism; and
11 (2) developing chronic absence reduction plans that school
12 corporations may elect to include as a component of the school
13 improvement plans required under IC 20-31-5.
14 (b) The department shall provide resources and guidance to school
15 corporations concerning evidence based practices and effective
16 strategies that reduce absenteeism in schools. However, subject to
17 section 12.4 of this chapter, the department may not mandate a
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1 particular policy within a chronic absence reduction plan adopted by
2 a school corporation or school.
3 SECTION 3. IC 20-19-3-12.4 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
4 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
5 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 12.4. (a) The department shall
6 establish a categorization framework to distinguish between
7 excused and unexcused absences based on the reason for the
8 absence.
9 (b) The department shall do the following:
10 (1) Collect annually information from each school corporation
11 and charter school for each school year regarding the number
12 of absences for each category described in subsection (a),
13 including the reason for the absence.
14 (2) Prepare a report that includes information collected under
15 subdivision (1), disaggregated by:
16 (A) race;
17 (B) gender;
18 (C) grade;
19 (D) ethnicity;
20 (E) limited English language proficiency;
21 (F) free or reduced price lunch status; and
22 (G) eligibility for special education.
23 (3) Not later than July 1, 2026, and not later than July 1 of
24 each year thereafter, submit the report prepared under
25 subdivision (2) to the legislative council in an electronic
26 format under IC 5-14-6.
27 SECTION 4. IC 20-33-2-11, AS AMENDED BY P.L.111-2021,
28 SECTION 95, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
29 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 11. (a) Notwithstanding IC 9-24 concerning the
30 minimum requirements for qualifying for the issuance of a driver's
31 license or a learner's permit, and subject to subsections (c) through (e),
32 an individual who is:
33 (1) at least fifteen (15) years of age and less than eighteen (18)
34 years of age;
35 (2) a habitual truant under the definition of habitual truant
36 established under subsection (b); and
37 (3) identified in the information submitted to the bureau of motor
38 vehicles under subsection (f);
39 may not be issued a driver's license or a learner's permit to drive a
40 motor vehicle under IC 9-24 until the individual is at least eighteen
41 (18) years of age.
42 (b) Each governing body may establish and include as part of the
2025 IN 482—LS 7271/DI 110 3
1 written copy of its discipline rules described in IC 20-33-8-12:
2 (1) a definition of a child who is designated as a habitual truant,
3 which must, at a minimum, define the term as a student who is
4 chronically absent, by having unexcused absences from school for
5 more than ten (10) days of school in one (1) school year; and
6 (2) all other pertinent matters related to this action.
7 (c) An individual described in subsection (a) is entitled to the
8 procedure described in IC 20-33-8-19.
9 (d) An individual described in subsection (a) who is at least thirteen
10 (13) years of age and less than eighteen (18) years of age is entitled to
11 a periodic review of the individual's attendance record in school to
12 determine whether the prohibition described in subsection (a) shall
13 continue. The periodic reviews may not be conducted less than one (1)
14 time each school year.
15 (e) Upon review, the governing body may determine that the
16 individual's attendance record has improved to the degree that the
17 individual may become eligible to be issued a driver's license or a
18 learner's permit.
19 (f) The governing body of the school corporation may submit to the
20 bureau of motor vehicles the pertinent information concerning an
21 individual's ineligibility under subsection (a) to be issued a driver's
22 license or a learner's permit.
23 (g) The department shall develop guidelines concerning criteria
24 used in defining a habitual truant that may be considered by a
25 governing body in complying with subsection (b).
26 SECTION 5. IC 20-33-2-14, AS AMENDED BY P.L.150-2024,
27 SECTION 62, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
28 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 14. (a) This section and sections 15 through 17.5
29 of this chapter apply to a student who attends either a public school or
30 a nonpublic school.
31 (b) The governing body of each school corporation shall have adopt
32 a policy:
33 (1) outlining the conditions for excused and unexcused absences;
34 and
35 (2) providing for the categorization of excused and unexcused
36 absences in accordance with the categorization framework
37 established by the department under IC 20-19-3-12.4.
38 (c) The governing body of each school corporation shall have a
39 policy regarding the participation of a habitually truant in
40 extracurricular and co-curricular activities.
41 (d) The policy under subsection (b) must include the grounds for
42 excused absences required by sections 15 through 17.5 of this chapter
2025 IN 482—LS 7271/DI 110 4
1 or another law.
2 (e) Any absence that results in a person not attending at least one
3 hundred eighty (180) days in a school year must be in accordance with
4 the governing body's policy under subsection (b) to qualify as an
5 excused absence.
6 (f) Service as a page for or as an honoree of the general assembly is
7 a lawful excuse for a student to be absent from school, when verified
8 by a certificate of the secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the
9 house of representatives. A student excused from school attendance
10 under this section may not be recorded as being absent on any date for
11 which the excuse is operative and may not be penalized by the school
12 in any manner.
13 SECTION 6. IC 20-33-2-26, AS AMENDED BY P.L.125-2024,
14 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
15 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 26. (a) It is the duty of each:
16 (1) superintendent;
17 (2) attendance officer;
18 (3) state attendance official;
19 (4) security police officer appointed under IC 36-8-3-7; and
20 (5) school corporation police officer appointed under
21 IC 20-26-16;
22 to enforce this chapter in their respective jurisdictions and to execute
23 the affidavits authorized under this section. The duty is several, and the
24 failure of one (1) or more to act does not excuse another official from
25 the obligation to enforce this chapter. The duty includes reporting to
26 the prosecuting attorney that a child is a habitual truant.
27 (b) An affidavit:
28 (1) against a parent for a violation of this chapter; and
29 (2) concerning a child being a habitual truant;
30 shall be prepared and filed in the same manner and under the procedure
31 prescribed for filing affidavits for the prosecution of public offenses.
32 (c) Before an affidavit is filed as described in subsections (b) or
33 (d), the prosecuting attorney may hold one (1) or more attendance
34 intervention meetings to address ongoing truancy to improve
35 student attendance.
36 (c) (d) An affidavit under this section shall be filed in a court with
37 jurisdiction in the county in which the affected child resides.
38 (d) (e) The prosecuting attorney shall notify each parent of a child
39 regarding an affidavit described in subsection (b) when the affidavit is
40 filed under this section.
41 (e) (f) The prosecuting attorney shall file and prosecute actions
42 under this section as in other criminal cases.
2025 IN 482—LS 7271/DI 110 5
1 (f) (g) The court shall promptly hear cases brought under this
2 section.
3 SECTION 7. IC 20-33-2-43, AS AMENDED BY P.L.125-2024,
4 SECTION 5, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
5 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 43. (a) The secretary of education shall appoint a
6 state attendance officer. The state attendance officer serves at the
7 pleasure of the secretary of education and may be removed by the
8 secretary of education at any time.
9 (b) The state attendance officer shall:
10 (1) exercise general supervision over the attendance officers of
11 Indiana;
12 (2) visit the various attendance districts throughout Indiana;
13 (3) inspect the work of the attendance officers; and
14 (4) investigate the manner in which this chapter is being enforced.
15 (c) The state attendance officer may initiate court action whenever
16 necessary for the enforcement of this chapter.
17 (d) The state attendance officer shall meet at least one (1) time each
18 year with all attendance officers to:
19 (1) review data, policies, and procedures; and
20 (2) discuss recommending to the legislative council legislation to
21 deter absenteeism and to promote school attendance.
22 (e) Not later than November 1 of each year, the state attendance
23 officer shall submit a report to the legislative council containing
24 recommended legislation based on the:
25 (1) state attendance officer's discussions with attendance officers
26 under subsection (d) and section 39 of this chapter; and
27 (2) report prepared by the department under IC 20-19-3-12.4.
28 A report required by this subsection must be submitted in an electronic
29 format under IC 5-14-6.
30 SECTION 8. IC 20-33-2.5-1, AS ADDED BY P.L.125-2024,
31 SECTION 6, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
32 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 1. As used in this chapter, "absent student" means
33 a student who:
34 (1) is enrolled in a school in kindergarten through grade 6; 12;
35 and
36 (2) is absent from school five (5) seven (7) days within a ten (10)
37 week period without being:
38 (A) excused; or
39 (B) absent in conformity with a note on file from the student's
40 doctor, therapist, or other professional requesting frequent
41 absences be excused under the student's:
42 (i) individualized education program;
2025 IN 482—LS 7271/DI 110 6
1 (ii) service plan developed under 511 IAC 7-34;
2 (iii) choice scholarship education plan developed under 511
3 IAC 7-49; or
4 (iv) plan developed under Section 504 of the federal
5 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794.
6 SECTION 9. IC 20-33-2.5-5, AS ADDED BY P.L.125-2024,
7 SECTION 6, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
8 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 5. (a) A school shall hold an attendance
9 conference described in section 4(2) of this chapter not more than five
10 (5) ten (10) instructional days after the student's fifth absence
11 described in section 1(2) of this chapter regardless of whether:
12 (1) the parent of the student; or
13 (2) a representative described under section 4(2)(D) of this
14 chapter;
15 is able to attend the conference.
16 (b) A school shall make all reasonable efforts to hold an attendance
17 conference as required under subsection (a) on a date and at a time that
18 works with the schedule of the student's parent.
19 SECTION 10. IC 20-33-8-16.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
20 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
21 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 16.5. A public school, including
22 a charter school, may not expel a student solely because the student
23 is chronically absent or a habitual truant.
2025 IN 482—LS 7271/DI 110