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Committee debate on attendance reforms highlights tradeoffs; action left unsettled after late‑session quorum issues
Summary
Representative Welton presented substitute 2 to HB 502 proposing a USBE 'citizenship' framework (attendance/participation metrics), optional test‑out credit, limited teacher discretion to weight attendance up to 10% (LEAs up to 20%), and a welfare‑check protocol for prolonged unexplained absences. Committee members raised concerns about LEA authority and grading impacts; procedural confusion about quorum left final action unsettled.
Representative Welton presented HB 502 (substitute 2), a multi‑part package on attendance that would: direct USBE to create a citizenship framework addressing attendance, engagement and participation; allow students with demonstrated competency to test out of classes; permit teachers to weigh attendance up to 10% of grades (LEAs up to 20%); and require welfare checks when students miss 10 consecutive days with no contact and no documentation of unenrollment or homeschooling.
The bill was framed as separating academic grades from citizenship measures and offering a modest "carrot" via scholarship eligibility if LEAs adopt a consistent citizenship framework. Sponsor said the welfare check is limited to cases where multiple criteria stack (10+ days absent, no contact, not withdrawn, no homeschool notice). Committee members raised objections: Representative Lisonbee and others called for more work because of privacy, scope and the risk of over‑empowering LEAs. A motion to hold the bill was made, failed in an initial tally, and subsequent substitute votes and quorum issues late in the hearing left the measure's status uncertain; the committee ultimately adjourned without a clear final floor recommendation recorded in the transcript.
