Chair Maya Lina opened the Portland Public Schools Policy Committee meeting and listed the agenda, including a review of policy JHB on truancy.

Dr. Sarah Warren, chief of strategy and operations, presented a staff slideshow and told the committee the districts legal team had produced a model policy aligned to the version of state law that went into effect Sept. 1. "Truancy is, a a new change that went into effect in the state law on September 1," Warren said while describing the recommended approach of adopting the model language and inserting district-specific details where statute allows.

The legal changes described to the committee include a narrowed or revised definition of truancy and removal of a prior provision that required the superintendent to make two documented attempts to serve notice on a family. Warren said the model policy contains a placeholder where the district can identify who will be responsible for tracking and responding when a student is struggling; staff indicated the student support team or an equivalent team typically fills that role.

Committee members were asked to consider whether to adopt the legal teams clean model policy and then adjust a small number of words to reflect Portland Public Schools local language. No formal motion or vote was recorded in the transcript segment provided.

Staff indicated they had redlined the districts existing policy for comparison and recommended committee members review the model text and the redline before the next committee meeting.