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Committee hears $6 million grant proposal to help districts address chronic absenteeism
Summary
Senate Bill 456 would appropriate $6,000,000 to the Oregon Department of Education for grants to community-based organizations and education service districts to address chronic absenteeism; supporters described the grants as flexible, local tools while lawmakers pressed for guardrails to ensure funds go to direct interventions.
Senate Bill 456, heard March 10 before the Senate Education Committee, would appropriate $6 million from the general fund to the Oregon Department of Education to provide grants to community-based organizations (CBOs) and education service districts (ESDs) to address chronic absenteeism. The measure declares an emergency and would take effect July 1, 2025.
Senator Suzanne Weber said the grants “allow districts to come up with solutions that fit their local needs” and emphasized that the proposal “does not impose a state mandated solution.” Weber described examples of simple, local interventions used by teachers and schools and said the goal is to ensure students are in the classroom to learn.
Stacy Michaelson of the Oregon School Boards Association said the bill applies to CBOs and ESDs and that both types of partners are critical because in some parts of the state ESDs are the primary support partner. “We think that this increased investment is very much needed, will be very well utilized,” Michaelson said, and she urged that the program be additive to existing attendance efforts and streamlined to reduce application and reporting burdens.
Senator Brown questioned whether the appropriation should fund direct interventions (for example, transportation or alarm clocks) rather than larger organizations that might create “a lot of bureaucracy.” Senator Weber and Michaelson said grants must be authenticated as realistically supportive of getting kids in the classroom and that award criteria would prioritize interventions that directly increase attendance.
The committee received no vote during the hearing. Witnesses recommended coordinating SB 456 with other attendance and accountability efforts to avoid duplicative reporting. The bill’s text as explained in committee sets eligibility for CBOs and ESDs and appropriates $6,000,000; precise grant formulas, award sizes and application requirements would be set in rule or by ODE if the Legislature approves the appropriation.
