By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 991
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the inclusion of chronically absent and truant students
as students at risk of dropping out of school and the collection and
reporting of data regarding those students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.081(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
dropping out of school" includes each student who:
(1) is under 26 years of age and who:
(A) except as provided by Subsection (h) or if
retained for prekindergarten under Section 28.02124, was not
advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school
years;
(B) if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or
12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in
two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester
in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such
an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in
the current semester;
(C) did not perform satisfactorily on an
assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter
B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school
year subsequently performed on that instrument or another
appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of
the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;
(D) if the student is in prekindergarten,
kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
current school year;
(E) is pregnant or is a parent;
(F) has been placed in an alternative education
program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or
current school year;
(G) has been expelled in accordance with Section
37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
(H) is currently on parole, probation, deferred
prosecution, or other conditional release;
(I) was previously reported through the Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
of school;
(J) is an emergent bilingual student, as defined
by Section 29.052;
(K) is in the custody or care of the Department of
Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school
year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer
of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;
(L) is homeless;
(M) resided in the preceding school year or
resides in the current school year in a residential placement
facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance
abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care
home, or general residential operation;
(N) has been incarcerated or has a parent or
guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the
student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal
Code; [or]
(O) is enrolled in a school district or
open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or
open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout
recovery school under Section 39.0548; [or]
(P) is a chronically absent student, as defined
by Section 48.009; or
(Q) is required to attend school under Section
25.085, is not exempted under Section 25.086, and fails to attend
school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of days within a
six-month period in the same school year; or
(2) regardless of the student's age, participates in
an adult education program provided under the adult high school
charter school program under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.
SECTION 2. Section 48.009, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to
read as follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "Chronically absent student" means a student who
is absent from school for more than 10 percent of the school's
required operation and instructional time within:
(A) a school year; or
(B) an enrollment period that exceeds 30
instructional days.
(2) "Full-time[, "full-time] equivalent school
counselor" means 40 hours of counseling services a week.
(b) The commissioner by rule shall require each school
district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the
Public Education Information Management System information
regarding:
(1) the number of students enrolled in the district or
school who are identified as having dyslexia;
(2) the availability of school counselors, including
the number of full-time equivalent school counselors, at each
campus;
(3) the availability of expanded learning
opportunities as described by Section 33.252 at each campus;
(4) the total number of students, other than students
described by Subdivision (5), enrolled in the district or school
with whom the district or school, as applicable, used intervention
strategies, as that term is defined by Section 26.004, at any time
during the year for which the report is made;
(5) the total number of students enrolled in the
district or school to whom the district or school provided aids,
accommodations, or services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), at any time during the year for
which the report is made;
(6) disaggregated by campus and grade, the number of:
(A) children who are required to attend school
under Section 25.085, are not exempted under Section 25.086, and
fail to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of
days within a six-month period in the same school year, in total and
disaggregated by whether the child is receiving instructional
services under Section 29.081;
(B) students for whom the district initiates a
truancy prevention measure under Section 25.0915(a-4); and
(C) parents of students against whom an
attendance officer or other appropriate school official has filed a
complaint under Section 25.093; [and]
(7) the number of students who are enrolled in a high
school equivalency program, a dropout recovery school, or an adult
education program provided under a high school diploma and industry
certification charter school program provided by the district or
school and who:
(A) are at least 18 years of age and under 26
years of age;
(B) have not previously been reported to the
agency as dropouts; and
(C) enroll in the program at the district or
school after not attending school for a period of at least nine
months; and
(8) the number of chronically absent students enrolled
at each campus in the district or school, in total and disaggregated
by whether the student is receiving instructional services under
Section 29.081.
(c-1) The agency shall annually aggregate at the campus and
district levels and make publicly available the data on truancy
collected under Subsection (b)(6)(A) and student chronic
absenteeism collected under Subsection (b)(8).
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.