Truancy procedure adjustments advance

Senators advanced a bill from general file Feb. 29 that would revise the state’s student truancy provisions.
In 2010, the Legislature passed a bill requiring school districts to report cases to a county attorney when a student has been absent 20 days or more per year, whether the absences are excused or unexcused.
LB933, introduced by Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford, would eliminate the requirement that a county attorney then file a complaint against a parent or guardian of a child who is absent more than 20 days. Instead, the bill would require a meeting between a county attorney and the student’s school to decide if further action is necessary to address his or her attendance. If further action is deemed necessary, the school and county attorney would meet with the child’s parents.
Ashford said the new requirements have reduced excessive absenteeism throughout the state but acknowledged that the changes have increased complaints among some parents. The bill is a balance between keeping children in school and addressing parents’ concerns about meeting with a county attorney, he said.
A Judiciary Committee amendment replaced the original provisions of the bill and would require an attendance officer to report to the county attorney when a child has been absent more than 20 days. The report would include a form on which one of the following three recommendations would be checked:
• the absences are due to documented illness or are otherwise excused;
• the school requests more time to work with the student before the county attorney intervenes; or
• the school has used all reasonable efforts to address the child’s absence from school without success and recommends intervention by the county attorney.
If further action is needed after the 20-day report, the initial meeting between the county attorney, the parents and the school would be at a location determined by the school.
Ashford said the amendment would ensure that parents are given a chance to address their child’s excessive absences prior to a county attorney’s involvement.
York Sen. Greg Adams spoke in support of the bill and the amendment, but said superintendents have told him the current requirements have been successful at getting students back in school.
“They missed something from not being in class—and that is what we’re saying here,” Adams said. “If you want to home school your kids you can do that under Nebraska state law, but your kids have got to be in school.”
Lincoln Sen. Tony Fulton spoke in support of the amendment, saying it would give school districts more discretion over how they handle absences.
“It puts the volition of the school districts into play, not by excluding parents, but by cooperating with them,” Fulton said. “There will still be disagreements between school officials and parents, but they will play out at a school district level and not the state level.”
Schuyler Sen. Chris Langemeier introduced an amendment to the committee amendment, adopted 27-3, that would allow—but not require—an attendance officer to report absences to a county attorney if they are due to documented illnesses that makes attendance impossible or impracticable or are otherwise excused by school authorities.
Langemeier said it would give attendance officers more authority.
“The school would have the ability to excuse students for what they deem excusable, so they should not have to turn it over to the county attorney,” he said. “That puts some common sense into this whole process.”
Omaha Sen. Brenda Council spoke in opposition to the amendment, saying it would not address parents’ concerns about involving the county attorney and would defeat the purpose of the original bill. If a county attorney is contacted, she said, they still would begin judicial proceedings just as they would without the amendment.
The committee amendment was adopted 35-1 and the bill advanced from general file on a 35-3 vote.