By: Bettencourt, et al. S.B. No. 570
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 2025-2026
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, 2025.