House Bill 391, which would allow teachers to exclude students who exceed a specified absenteeism threshold (including excused absences) from student growth measures used in teacher evaluations, was reported favorably by the House Education Committee on May 20, 2025.

Representative Stagney, sponsor of HB 391, told the committee that existing law (LRS 17:3,902 and Act 515 of 2014) allows teachers to exclude students with 10 or more unexcused absences per semester from value‑added models (VAM) and student learning targets, but does not account for excused absences in the same way. "This bill seeks to change that and allow unexcused, that the teacher be able to, use unexcused absences as well as excused in their models," Stagney said, explaining the proposal is intended to make evaluations fairer when chronic absenteeism prevents students from receiving regular instruction.

Cynthia Posey of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers urged the committee to consider the impact of absences on instruction. "It's important for a teacher's evaluation to be fair and accurate," Posey said. Posey and the sponsor cited research and Department of Education guidance indicating that missing 10 days per semester is the point at which demonstrable learning impacts become more likely; the sponsor said that benchmark traces to the Department’s analysis used when Act 515 was enacted in 2014.

Officials from the Louisiana Department of Education said they had examined the question and did not take a formal position, providing technical assistance but not opposition. Ashley Townsend of LDOE told the committee the department had "done some looking into this" and that while excluding chronically absent students can sometimes be helpful, absence still has a definite instructional impact.

Members discussed operational mechanics. Under current roster verification procedures teachers can indicate which students exceed absence thresholds so those students’ growth measures are not entered into the VAM calculation; HB 391 would add excused absences to that verification option so teachers could exclude those students in the same way. Representative Tom Carlson sought to confirm that exclusion operates at the individual student level (rather than dropping an entire class); witnesses confirmed the verification is individualized.

Testimony included local data cited by legislators and commentators about chronic absenteeism in some districts: one committee member referenced reporting that one in three East Baton Rouge Parish students were chronically absent in 2024 (defined in that reporting as missing at least 10 percent of the school year). Supporters argued that adjusting how absenteeism enters the evaluation calculation could reduce unfairly low ratings and lower turnover costs for districts; the Learning Policy Institute estimate that replacing a teacher can cost school systems roughly $12,000 to $25,000 was cited in committee discussion.

Representative Stagney moved to report HB 391 favorably; committee members recorded no objections and the bill was advanced for further consideration.