BILL REQ. #:  H-4989.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/03/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to streamlining the truancy process to reduce the costs to courts and school districts; amending RCW 28A.225.015, 28A.225.020, 28A.225.025, 28A.225.030, and 28A.225.151; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   In 1995, the legislature passed a truancy law known as the Becca bill. The law requires school districts to file truancy petitions in the juvenile court when students accumulate a specific number of unexcused absences. As a result of this law, the annual number of petitions increased from ninety-one in 1994 to over fifteen thousand in 1997, and has remained around this number since that time. In order to accommodate this mandate, the state provides funds to reimburse the school district for their costs associated with the truancy provisions in the amount of three million six hundred thousand dollars per biennium, as well as the courts in the amount of sixteen million five hundred thousand dollars per biennium. The court process resulting from the petitions can lead to multiple hearings, for which students may be required to have legal representation, legal interventions, and detention. This process costs the school districts two million seven hundred thousand dollars per year, which is approximately one and one-half times the one million eight hundred thousand dollars allocated by the state. The costs to the courts in the 2007-2009 biennium was $15.4 million. Only $8.9 million was appropriated to the courts for truancy that biennium, which left $6.5 million that was not reimbursed by the state. By streamlining this process for middle and high school students, the state will continue to address truancy and reduce the administrative and paperwork load for school districts and the court system.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.225.015 and 1999 c 319 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) If a parent enrolls a child who is six or seven years of age in a public school, the child is required to attend and that parent has the responsibility to ensure the child attends for the full time that school is in session. An exception shall be made to this requirement for children whose parents formally remove them from enrollment if the child is less than eight years old and a petition has not been filed against the parent under subsection (3) of this section. The requirement to attend school under this subsection does not apply to a child enrolled in a public school part-time for the purpose of receiving ancillary services. A child required to attend school under this subsection may be temporarily excused upon the request of his or her parent for purposes agreed upon by the school district and parent.
     (2) If a six or seven year-old child is required to attend public school under subsection (1) of this section and that child has unexcused absences, the public school in which the child is enrolled ((shall)) may:
     (a) Inform the child's custodial parent, parents, or guardian by a notice in writing, by e-mail, or by telephone whenever the child has failed to attend school after one unexcused absence within any month during the current school year;
     (b) Request a conference or conferences to be conducted by telephone or in person with the custodial parent, parents, or guardian and child at a time reasonably convenient for all persons included for the purpose of analyzing the causes of the child's absences after two unexcused absences within any month during the current school year. If a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference day is to take place within thirty days of the second unexcused absence, then the school district may schedule this conference on that day; and
     (c) Take steps to eliminate or reduce the child's absences. These steps ((shall)) may include, where appropriate, adjusting the child's school program or school or course assignment, providing more individualized or remedial instruction, offering assistance in enrolling the child in available alternative schools or programs, or assisting the parent or child to obtain supplementary services that may help eliminate or ameliorate the cause or causes for the absence from school.
     (3) If a child required to attend public school under subsection (1) of this section has seven unexcused absences in a month or ten unexcused absences in a school year, the school district ((shall)) may file a petition for civil action as provided in RCW 28A.225.035 against the parent of the child.
     (4) This section does not require a six or seven year old child to enroll in a public or private school or to receive home-based instruction. This section only applies to six or seven year old children whose parents enroll them full time in public school and do not formally remove them from enrollment as provided in subsection (1) of this section.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.225.020 and 2009 c 266 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) If a child required to attend school under RCW 28A.225.010 fails to attend school without valid justification, the public school in which the child is enrolled shall take the following actions if the child is enrolled in the sixth grade or above, and may take the following actions if the child is enrolled in the fifth grade or below:
     (a) Inform the child's custodial parent, parents, or guardian by a notice in writing, by e-mail, or by telephone whenever the child has failed to attend school after one unexcused absence within any month during the current school year. School officials shall inform the parent of the potential consequences of additional unexcused absences. If the custodial parent, parents, or guardian is not fluent in English, the preferred practice is to provide this information in a language in which the custodial parent, parents, or guardian is fluent; and
     (b) Schedule a conference or conferences to be conducted by telephone or in person with the custodial parent, parents, or guardian and child at a time reasonably convenient for all persons included for the purpose of analyzing the causes of the child's absences after two unexcused absences within any month during the current school year. If a regularly scheduled parent-teacher conference day is to take place within thirty days of the second unexcused absence, then the school district may schedule this conference on that day((; and)).
     (((c))) (2) The school may also take steps to eliminate or reduce the child's absences. These steps ((shall)) may include, where appropriate, adjusting the child's school program or school or course assignment, providing more individualized or remedial instruction, providing appropriate vocational courses or work experience, referring the child to a community truancy board, if available, requiring the child to attend an alternative school or program, or assisting the parent or child to obtain supplementary services that might eliminate or ameliorate the cause or causes for the absence from school. If the child's parent does not attend the scheduled conference, the conference may be conducted with the student and school official. However, the parent shall be notified of the steps to be taken to eliminate or reduce the child's absence.
     (((2))) (3) For purposes of this chapter, an "unexcused absence" means that a child:
     (a) Has failed to attend the majority of hours or periods in an average school day or has failed to comply with a more restrictive school district policy; and
     (b) Has failed to meet the school district's policy for excused absences.
     (((3))) (4) If a child transfers from one school district to another during the school year, the receiving school or school district shall include the unexcused absences accumulated at the previous school or from the previous school district for purposes of this section, RCW 28A.225.030, and 28A.225.015.

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.225.025 and 2009 c 266 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) For purposes of this chapter, "community truancy board" means a board composed of members of the local community in which the child attends school. Juvenile courts may establish and operate community truancy boards. If the juvenile court and the school district agree, a school district may establish and operate a community truancy board under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. Juvenile courts may create a community truancy board or may use other entities that exist or are created, such as diversion units. However, a diversion unit or other existing entity must agree before it is used as a truancy board. Duties of a community truancy board shall include, but not be limited to, recommending methods for improving school attendance such as assisting the parent or the child to obtain supplementary services that might eliminate or ameliorate the causes for the absences or suggesting to the school district that the child enroll in another school, an alternative education program, an education center, a skill center, a dropout prevention program, or another public or private educational program.
     (2) The legislature finds that utilization of community truancy boards, or other diversion units that fulfill a similar function, is the preferred means of intervention when preliminary methods of notice and parent conferences and taking appropriate steps to eliminate or reduce unexcused absences have not been effective in securing the child's attendance at school. The legislature intends to encourage and support the development and expansion of community truancy boards and other diversion programs which are effective in promoting school attendance and preventing the need for more intrusive intervention by the court. ((Operation of a school truancy board does not excuse a district from the obligation of filing a petition within the requirements of RCW 28A.225.015(3).))

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.225.030 and 1999 c 319 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) If a child is required to attend school under RCW 28A.225.010 and ((if the actions taken by a)) the school district takes actions under RCW 28A.225.020 that are not successful in substantially reducing an enrolled student's absences from public school, not later than the seventh unexcused absence by a child within any month during the current school year or not later than the tenth unexcused absence during the current school year, the school district ((shall)) may file a petition and supporting affidavit for a civil action with the juvenile court alleging a violation of RCW 28A.225.010: (a) By the parent; (b) by the child; or (c) by the parent and the child. Except as provided in this subsection, no additional documents need be filed with the petition.
     (2) The district ((shall not later than)) may, after the fifth unexcused absence in a month:
     (a) Enter into an agreement with a student and parent that establishes school attendance requirements;
     (b) Refer a student to a community truancy board, if available, as defined in RCW 28A.225.025. The community truancy board shall enter into an agreement with the student and parent that establishes school attendance requirements and take other appropriate actions to reduce the child's absences; or
     (c) File a petition under subsection (1) of this section.
     (3) The petition may be filed by a school district employee who is not an attorney.
     (4) If the school district ((fails to)) does not file a petition under this section, the parent of a child with five or more unexcused absences in any month during the current school year or upon the tenth unexcused absence during the current school year may file a petition with the juvenile court alleging a violation of RCW 28A.225.010.
     (5) Petitions filed under this section may be served by certified mail, return receipt requested. If such service is unsuccessful, or the return receipt is not signed by the addressee, personal service is required.

Sec. 6   RCW 28A.225.151 and 1996 c 134 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) As required under subsection (2) of this section, ((each school)) if a school takes additional actions provided in RCW 28A.225.030, it shall document the actions taken ((under RCW 28A.225.030)) and report this information to the school district superintendent who shall compile the data for all the schools in the district and prepare an annual school district report for each school year and submit the report to the superintendent of public instruction. The reports shall be made upon forms furnished by the superintendent of public instruction and shall be transmitted as determined by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (2) The reports under subsection (1) of this section shall include:
     (a) The number of enrolled students and the number of unexcused absences;
     (b) Documentation of the steps taken by the school district under each subsection of RCW 28A.225.020 at the request of the superintendent of public instruction. Each year, by May 1st, the superintendent of public instruction shall select ten school districts to submit the report at the end of the following school year. The ten districts shall represent different areas of the state and be of varied sizes. In addition, the superintendent of public instruction shall require any district that fails to keep appropriate records to submit a full report to the superintendent of public instruction under this subsection. All school districts shall document steps taken under RCW 28A.225.020 in each student's record, and make those records available upon request consistent with the laws governing student records;
     (c) The number of enrolled students with ten or more unexcused absences in a school year or five or more unexcused absences in a month during a school year;
     (d) A description of any programs or schools developed to serve students who have had five or more unexcused absences in a month or ten in a year including information about the number of students in the program or school and the number of unexcused absences of students during and after participation in the program. The school district shall also describe any placements in an approved private nonsectarian school or program or certified program under a court order under RCW 28A.225.090; and
     (e) The number of petitions filed by a school district with the juvenile court.
     (3) A report required under this section shall not disclose the name or other identification of a child or parent.
     (4) The superintendent of public instruction shall collect these reports from all school districts and prepare an annual report for each school year to be submitted to the legislature no later than December 15th of each year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   This act takes effect July 1, 2010.