HB1540: Chronic absenteeism.

Legislative Summary

Chronic absenteeism. Requires the department of education (department) to: (1) study and make recommendations concerning the categorization of student absences; (2) create a list of best practices to reduce student discipline related to student absenteeism and the number of chronically absent students; (3) develop guidelines and requirements for certain intervention strategies and school attendance improvement plans; (4) submit a report concerning attendance to the legislative council; and (5) develop attendance improvement targets for certain schools. Requires a school to implement an early warning system and assemble a school based team to monitor the system. Provides the duties and obligations of a school attendance coordinator and a child study team. Requires the governing authority of a school to adopt an attendance policy and develop an attendance improvement plan aligned with department guidelines and requirements. Requires a school to collect and document certain information concerning absences.