chronically absent students count as at risk

The text as introduced · 1,107 words

89R1025 PRL-F

By: Dutton
H.B. No. 2236

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the inclusion of chronically absent students as

students at risk of dropping out of school and the collection and

reporting of data regarding those students.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 29.081(d), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of

dropping out of school" includes each student who:

(1) is under 26 years of age and who:

(A) except as provided by Subsection (h) or if

retained for prekindergarten under Section 28.02124, was not

advanced from one grade level to the next for one or more school

years;

(B) if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or

12, did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in

two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum during a semester

in the preceding or current school year or is not maintaining such

an average in two or more subjects in the foundation curriculum in

the current semester;

(C) did not perform satisfactorily on an

assessment instrument administered to the student under Subchapter

B, Chapter 39, and who has not in the previous or current school

year subsequently performed on that instrument or another

appropriate instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of

the level of satisfactory performance on that instrument;

(D) if the student is in prekindergarten,

kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on

a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the

current school year;

(E) is pregnant or is a parent;

(F) has been placed in an alternative education

program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the preceding or

current school year;

(G) has been expelled in accordance with Section

37.007 during the preceding or current school year;

(H) is currently on parole, probation, deferred

prosecution, or other conditional release;

(I) was previously reported through the Public

Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out

of school;

(J) is an emergent bilingual student, as defined

by Section 29.052;

(K) is in the custody or care of the Department of

Family and Protective Services or has, during the current school

year, been referred to the department by a school official, officer

of the juvenile court, or law enforcement official;

(L) is homeless;

(M) resided in the preceding school year or

resides in the current school year in a residential placement

facility in the district, including a detention facility, substance

abuse treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,

halfway house, cottage home operation, specialized child-care

home, or general residential operation;

(N) has been incarcerated or has a parent or

guardian who has been incarcerated, within the lifetime of the

student, in a penal institution as defined by Section 1.07, Penal

Code; [ or ]

(O) is enrolled in a school district or

open-enrollment charter school, or a campus of a school district or

open-enrollment charter school, that is designated as a dropout

recovery school under Section 39.0548; or

(P) is a chronically absent student, as defined

by Section 48.009; or

(2) regardless of the student's age, participates in

an adult education program provided under the adult high school

charter school program under Subchapter G, Chapter 12.

SECTION 2. Section 48.009, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to

read as follows:

(a) In this section :

(1) "Chronically absent student" means a student who

is absent from school for more than 10 percent of the minutes of

school operation time allocated under Section 25.081 for

instruction within:

(A) a school year; or

(B) a six-week grade reporting period.

(2) "Full-time [ , "full-time ] equivalent school

counselor" means 40 hours of counseling services a week.

(b) The commissioner by rule shall require each school

district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the

Public Education Information Management System information

regarding:

(1) the number of students enrolled in the district or

school who are identified as having dyslexia;

(2) the availability of school counselors, including

the number of full-time equivalent school counselors, at each

campus;

(3) the availability of expanded learning

opportunities as described by Section 33.252 at each campus;

(4) the total number of students, other than students

described by Subdivision (5), enrolled in the district or school

with whom the district or school, as applicable, used intervention

strategies, as that term is defined by Section 26.004, at any time

during the year for which the report is made;

(5) the total number of students enrolled in the

district or school to whom the district or school provided aids,

accommodations, or services under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act

of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), at any time during the year for

which the report is made;

(6) disaggregated by campus and grade, the number of:

(A) children who are required to attend school

under Section 25.085, are not exempted under Section 25.086, and

fail to attend school without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of

days within a six-month period in the same school year;

(B) students for whom the district initiates a

truancy prevention measure under Section 25.0915(a-4); and

(C) parents of students against whom an

attendance officer or other appropriate school official has filed a

complaint under Section 25.093; [ and ]

(7) the number of students who are enrolled in a high

school equivalency program, a dropout recovery school, or an adult

education program provided under a high school diploma and industry

certification charter school program provided by the district or

school and who:

(A) are at least 18 years of age and under 26

years of age;

(B) have not previously been reported to the

agency as dropouts; and

(C) enroll in the program at the district or

school after not attending school for a period of at least nine

months ; and

(8) the total number of chronically absent students

enrolled at each campus in the district or school disaggregated by

students' race, ethnicity, and status as:

(A) students enrolled in a special education

program;

(B) students identified as having dyslexia;

(C) educationally disadvantaged students; and

(D) emergent bilingual students, as defined by

Section 29.052 .

(c-1) The agency shall annually aggregate and make publicly

available the data on student chronic absenteeism collected under

Subsection (b)(8). The data must:

(1) be shown at the campus and district aggregate

levels; and

(2) include the percentage of chronically absent

students in each demographic category listed under Subsection

(b)(8).

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.