| 1 | 1 | | By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1630 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | (Dutton) |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | relating to an attendance policy adopted by public schools to |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | prevent truancy. |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | amended by adding Section 25.0916 to read as follows: |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 25.0916. ATTENDANCE POLICY. (a) In this section, |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | "parent" includes a person standing in parental relation. |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | (b) The board of trustees of each school district and the |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | governing body of each open-enrollment charter school shall adopt |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | and implement an attendance policy to: |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | (1) inform students and parents regarding the |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | importance of regular attendance; and |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | (2) provide appropriate supports to students who fail |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | to regularly attend school. |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | (c) An attendance policy adopted under this section must: |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | (1) describe the benefits of regular attendance; |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (2) describe the consequences of failing to regularly |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | attend school, including the negative effects on: |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | (A) a student's academic progress; and |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | (B) a student and the student's family as a |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | result of referral to a truancy court for truant conduct under |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | Section 65.003(a), Family Code; |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | (3) provide for a parent of a student enrolled in the |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | district or school to elect to receive notifications of the |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | student's absence from school for a day or part of a day, regardless |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | of whether the student's absence is excused or unexcused, through: |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | (A) e-mail or text message, if the district or |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | school has the capability to send notifications through those |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | methods; or |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | (B) first class mail, if the district or school |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | does not have the capability to send notifications as provided by |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | Paragraph (A); |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (4) provide for a meeting between a parent of a student |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | enrolled in the district or school and a school counselor, |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | principal, or appropriate administrator when the student becomes at |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | risk for engaging in truant conduct under Section 65.003, Family |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | Code, as provided by the policy, to discuss the student's behavior |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | and any conditions at the student's home that may be contributing to |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | the student's failure to attend school; |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | (5) if a parent of a student enrolled in the district |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | or school fails to attend a meeting described by Subdivision (4), |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | authorize the school attendance officer to make a home visit or |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | otherwise contact the parent in the manner described by Section |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | 25.091 to investigate the student's behavior and living conditions |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | and report the attendance officer's findings to the district or |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | school; and |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | (6) establish guidelines to identify a student in need |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | of additional support and to refer the student to in-school or |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | out-of-school services aimed at addressing the student's failure to |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | regularly attend school. |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | (d) At the beginning of each school year, each school |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | district or open-enrollment charter school shall provide a copy of |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | the attendance policy adopted under this section to the parent of |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | each student enrolled in the district or school. |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | school year. |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
|---|