HB 332 — PUBLIC PEACE, HEALTH, SAFETY & WELFARE

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL 332 53RD LEGISLATURE - STATEOFNEWMEXICO-STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION , 2018 4 6 8 10 AN ACT RELATING TO THE PUBLIC PEACE, HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE;

REQUIRING PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BY TEXT WHEN A CHILD IS ABSENT FROM SCHOOL;

1416 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

e t 17 SECTION 1.

ASection new22-12-9 sectionNMSA of1978 the(being PublicLaws School2004, Codew isl en td 1718 enactedChapter 28, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

w l n d 18 "[NEW MATERIAL] PARENTAL NOTIFICATIONS.--Each high school = = 19 shall"22-12-9. notify by text message a parent of a student of the a l i a e r 20 following events unless the parent has requested on the a t m m 21 student's enrollment form or otherwise that the parent not be d r e 22 notified that:

cUNEXCUSED ABSENCES AND TRUANCY--ATTENDANCE a l i a e sr k20 23POLICIES.-- a t m m 21 A.

aAs state-,used school-district-in orthis charter-school-section eand aSections n22-12-7 band 24d requiredr assessmente will22 be22-12-8 administeredNMSA in1978: not less than two u [ days;

andc .210572.2e HAFC/HRC/HBs 332k B.23 (1) "habitual truant" means a student who has e a n b 24 accumulated the equivalent of ten days or more of unexcused u [ absences within a school year;

the.210546.1 student'sHRC/HB cumulative332 grade(2) point"student averagein hasneed fallenof belowearly 2.0intervention" onmeans a 4.0student scalewho orhas seventyaccumulated percentfive onunexcused aabsences onewithin hundreda percentschool scale."year; SECTION 2.

APPLICABILITY.--Theand provisions(3) of"unexcused thisabsence" actmeans shallan applyabsence beginningfrom inschool or classes for which the 2019-2020student does not have an allowable excuse pursuant to the Compulsory School Attendance Law or rules of the local school yearboard andor ingoverning subsequentauthority of a charter school years.or private school.

-B. 2 - 9 11 13 15 e e 17 e e n d 18 = = l ] 19 a l r i 20 t e a t m m 21 e d r e 22 c e r c 23 e a n b 24 u [ .210572.2

An unexcused absence of two or more classes up to fifty percent of an instructional day shall be counted as one-half day absence, and the unexcused absence of more than fifty percent of an instructional day shall be counted as one full-day absence.

C.

Each school district and charter school shall maintain an attendance policy that:

(1) provides for early identification of e e 17 students with unexcused absences, students in need of early e e n d 18 intervention and habitual truants and provides intervention = = l ] 19 strategies that focus on keeping students in need of early a l r i 20 intervention in an educational setting and prohibit out-of- t e a t school suspension and expulsion as the punishment for unexcused m m 21 e d absences and habitual truancy;

r e 22 c e r c 23 (2) uses withdrawal as provided in Section e a n b 24 22-8-2 NMSA 1978 only after exhausting intervention efforts to u [ keep students in educational settings;

.210546.1 - 2 - HRC/HB 332 (3) requires that class attendance be taken for every instructional day in every public school or school program in the school district;

[and ] (4) requires the school to notify promptly by text message a parent of a student who is absent unless the parent has requested on the student's enrollment form or otherwise that the parent not be notified;

and [(4)] (5) provides for schools to document the following for each student identified as an habitual truant:

(a) attempts of the school to notify the parent that the student had unexcused absences;

(b) attempts of the school to meet with the parent to discuss intervention strategies;

and (c) intervention strategies implemented to support keeping the student in school.

D.

The department shall review and approve school e e 17 district and charter school attendance policies.

e e n d 18 E.

School districts and charter schools shall = = l ] 19 report unexcused absences and habitual truancy rates to the a l r i 20 department in a form and at such times as the department t e a t determines and shall document intervention efforts made to m m 21 e d keep students in need of early intervention and habitual r e 22 c e r c 23 truants in educational settings.

Locally chartered charter e a n b 24 schools shall provide copies of their reports to the school u [ district.

The department shall compile school district and .210546.1 - 3 - HRC/HB 332 charter school reports on rates of unexcused absences and habitual truancy and require school districts and charter schools to certify that the information is being reported consistently." SECTION 2.

A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] PARENTAL NOTIFICATIONS.--Each high school shall notify by text message a parent of a student of the following events unless the parent has requested on the student's enrollment form or otherwise that the parent not be notified that:

A.

a test that will affect the student's grade point average will be administered in not less than two days;

B.

the student's grade point average has fallen below 2.0 on a 4.0 scale or seventy percent on a one hundred percent scale;

and e e 17 C.

the student has failed to submit homework when e e n d 18 due." = = l ] 19 - 4 - a l r i 20 t e a t m m 21 e d r e 22 c e r c 23 e a n b 24 u [ .210546.1