2022 -- H 8348 | |
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LC006116 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE -- SEE TITLE 16 | |
CHAPTER 97 - THE RHODE ISLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION ACT | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Barros, Amore, McNamara, and Giraldo | |
Date Introduced: June 16, 2022 | |
Referred To: House Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 16-19-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-19 entitled "Compulsory |
2 | Attendance [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby |
3 | amended to read as follows: |
4 | 16-19-1. Attendance required. |
5 | (a) Every child who has completed, or will have completed, six (6) years of life on or before |
6 | September 1 of any school year, or is enrolled in kindergarten, and has not completed eighteen (18) |
7 | years of life, shall regularly attend some public day school during all the days and hours that the |
8 | public schools are in session in the city or town in which the child resides. The public school shall |
9 | be responsible for regular attendance data monitoring of all students and early identification of |
10 | emergent truant behavior. Prior to referring truant students to family court, schools must do their |
11 | due diligence to assure all interventions have taken place. This includes, and is not limited to: |
12 | (1) Consultation with the parent or guardian; and |
13 | (2) Coordination with the student's school-identified support team such as the |
14 | individualized education plan, behavioral support or attendance teams. |
15 | Every person having under his or her control a child, as described in this section, shall |
16 | cause the child to attend school as required by this section, and for every neglect of this duty, the |
17 | person having control of the child shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day, |
18 | or part of a day, that the child fails to attend school, and if the total of these days is more than thirty |
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1 | (30) school days during any school year, then the person shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned not |
2 | exceeding six (6) months or shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both; |
3 | provided, that if the person so charged shall prove that the child has attended, for the required period |
4 | of time, a private day school approved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education |
5 | pursuant to ยง 16-60-6(10); or a course of at-home instruction approved by the school committee of |
6 | the town where the child resides; or has been accepted into an accredited postsecondary education |
7 | program; or has obtained a waiver under subsection (b); or that the physical or mental condition of |
8 | the child was such as to render his or her attendance at school inexpedient or impracticable; or that |
9 | the child was excluded from school by virtue of some other general law or regulation, then |
10 | attendance shall not be obligatory nor shall the penalty be incurred. |
11 | (b) A waiver to the compulsory attendance requirement may be granted by the |
12 | superintendent only upon proof that the pupil is sixteen (16) years of age or older and has an |
13 | alternative learning plan for obtaining either a high school diploma or its equivalent. |
14 | (1) Alternative-learning plans shall include age-appropriate academic rigor and the |
15 | flexibility to incorporate the pupil's interests and manner of learning. These plans may include, but |
16 | are not limited to, such components, or combination of components, of extended learning |
17 | opportunities as independent study, private instruction, performing groups, internships, community |
18 | service, apprenticeships, and online courses that are currently funded and available to the school |
19 | department and/or the community. |
20 | (2) Alternative-learning plans shall be developed, and amended if necessary, in |
21 | consultation with the pupil, a school guidance counselor, the school principal, and at least one |
22 | parent or guardian of the pupil, and submitted to the superintendent for approval. |
23 | (3) If the superintendent does not approve the alternative-learning plan, the parent or |
24 | guardian of the pupil may appeal such decision to the school committee. A parent or guardian may |
25 | appeal the decision of the school committee to the commissioner of education pursuant to chapter |
26 | 39 of title 16. |
27 | (c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or otherwise interfere with the rights of |
28 | teachers and other school employees to collectively bargain pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of title |
29 | 28 or to allow any school committee to abrogate any agreement reached by collective bargaining. |
30 | (d) No school shall use a student's truancy or absenteeism as the sole basis for using an out- |
31 | of-school suspension as a disciplinary action. |
32 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE -- SEE TITLE 16 | |
CHAPTER 97 - THE RHODE ISLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION ACT | |
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1 | This act would provide that the public schools shall be responsible for attendance data |
2 | monitoring and detection of emergent truant behavior. |
3 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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