Attendance and Truancy

The Showing Up for Students Amendment Act of 2024 

legislation proposed week of March 25th by CM Zachary Parker

“To provide for compulsory school attendance, for the taking of a school census in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes,

• ” to improve notification procedures for school absences, require more robust reporting of truancy and absenteeism data,

• to charge the Office of the State Superintendent for Education with referring students who accrue unexcused absences in the first instance to the Department of Human Services, OSSE will assume the initial responsibility of referring students with 7 or more unexcused absences in a rolling 120-day period to the Department of Human Services, the agency best placed to link them with services that can address the underlying cause of absenteeism. DHS’s assumption of this responsibility would be phased in over two years—starting first with children 14 and up. (For what it is worth, we have been told to anticipate that the Mayor’s anticipated truancy/absenteeism legislation will also propose an enhanced role for DHS in the referral process.)

to provide for subsequent referral to the Child and Family Services Agency or the Office of the Attorney General when a significant number of additional unexcused absences are accrued; If DHS’s efforts fail, students aged 13 and under will then be referred to Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) at 20 unexcused absences (referrals to CFSA currently occur after 10 unexcused absences), and students 14 and older will be referred to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) at 25 unexcused absences (referrals to OAG currently occur after 15 unexcused absences). For any student with more than 20 unexcused absences in a year, the bill will require a summer home visit to explore barriers to attendance and update the student’s individualized education plan.

• to amend the State Education Office Establishment Act of 2000 to require the Office of the State Superintendent for Education to provide tiered support to schools with higher rates of absenteeism and truancy, The Office of the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE)’s annual truancy report will be required to include an analysis of root causes, effective interventions, and additional funding needs; OSSE will be required to establish a tiered system of support for school experiencing high rates of truancy or absenteeism; and OSSE will be required to establish attendance incentive programs for District public school students, student organizations, athletic programs, and out-of-school programs. The Deputy Mayor for Education will be required to conduct a biannual review of chronic absenteeism and truancy trends with the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and local education agency leaders.” 

• to require the Office of the State Superintendent for Education to establish an attendance incentive program, and OSSE will be required to establish attendance incentive programs for District public school students, student organizations, athletic programs, and out-of-school programs. The Deputy Mayor for Education will be required to conduct a biannual review of chronic absenteeism and truancy trends with the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and local education agency leaders.” 

• to expand valid excuses for a student’s absence; The legislation changes requirements for reporting absences, while also expanding the set of valid excuses to include specific or presumed threats of violence, the serious illness of a family member, housing displacement, and absences relating to family and immigration court proceedings

• to amend The Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007 to require the District of Columbia Public Schools to update its disciplinary policies to include restorative discipline practices, and

• to require the Deputy Mayor for Education to convene regular meetings with school leaders regarding effective responses to truancy and absenteeism; The Deputy Mayor for Education will be required to conduct a biannual review of chronic absenteeism and truancy trends with the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and local education agency leaders.” 

• to amend An Act to enact part II of the District of Columbia Code, entitled " Judiciary and Judicial Procedure," codifying the general and permanent laws relating to the judiciary and judicial procedure of the District of Columbia to ensure that families are not facing accountability for District agency failures to provide services to children and to clarify the standard for educational neglect.   To establish that a child is in need of supervision, the bill would require CFSA to demonstrate that District agencies have provided legally required support to a child, including engagement by a student support team, referral to DHS, and implementation of an individualized education plan. The bill would also establish clear parameters for educational neglect—a concept that already exists in D.C. Official Code § 16–2301. The bill would establish that the term “neglected child” includes a child who (1) has 30 or more unexcused absences in any an academic year; and (2) whose parent, guardian, or custodian’s ongoing actions or pattern of inaction are the proximate cause of the child’s failure to secure an education.” While the overarching aim of the bill is to significantly reduce reliance on CFSA, these changes ensure that educational neglect cases can be pursued in the rare and extreme circumstances in which they are needed.