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Legislative counsel outlines streamlined absenteeism changes in draft amendment to H.930
Summary
Committee reviewed Draft 2.1 of the H.930 amendment, which shortens the excused-absence language, adds model procedures and documentation templates, and expands the list of stakeholders the Agency of Education must consult in developing the model chronic-absenteeism policy.
Legislative counsel presented Draft 2.1 of the committee's amendment to H.930, walking members through targeted edits to attendance statutes intended to shorten and clarify when schools may excuse absences and how districts implement a model chronic-absenteeism policy. The counsel said changes between earlier drafts are highlighted in yellow and noted the draft reduces the length of subsection (a) governing excused absences to simplify districts' work.
The presentation said the revised language keeps the compulsory-attendance definitions intact but streamlines the list of circumstances when an absence may be excused. Legislative counsel explained the model policy section (proposed section 11.24) now requires the Agency of Education to develop model procedures to accompany the model policy, including a template for documentation of actions taken that constitute the truancy reporting protocol.
Why it matters: the amendments are intended to clarify district discretion when excusing absences while creating consistent, statewide templates and procedures so districts can document interventions and truancy reporting in a uniform way. The draft also preserves a reporting requirement tied to home-study program attendance transferred from the House.
Committee next steps and follow-up: members asked the agency and legal counsel to provide targeted testimony to explain what existing statute requires and where a statutory change is necessary, particularly regarding due-process protections for families that homeschool or use home study. The committee agreed to invite agency witnesses back the following day for a focused briefing and to circulate the revised text before further action.
Representative excerpts from the hearing: "You have draft 2.1 of your instance of amendment to H.930 as passed by the House," the legislative counsel told members when introducing the draft. "Changes between draft 0.1 and this new 1.1 and this new draft 2.1 are highlighted in yellow, and you can see there there's not a lot of yellow in this draft." (Legislative counsel)
The draft directs that the model procedure "shall include a template for documentation of actions taken according to the policy to address the absence, which constitutes the truancy reporting protocol." (Legislative counsel)
At the meeting's close, the committee scheduled further agency testimony and requested legal counsel and the Agency of Education to clarify statutory limits before any vote.
