Category: Discipline Addressing Specific Code of Conduct Violations
Subcategory: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy
State: Tennessee
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49-6-303. School counselors.
(b) School counselors shall provide preventive and developmental counseling to school students in order to prepare them for their school responsibilities and their social and physical development. In providing these services, school counselors shall:
(6) Aid in improving school attendance and retention by implementing an early identification and prevention program for potential attendance and retention problems.
49-6-3002. State attendance guidelines–No penalty for period of hospital or homebound instruction.
(a) The state board of education shall promulgate rules, in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, that prescribe guidelines for use by local boards of education in establishing standards and policies governing student attendance, subject to availability of funds. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, the following stipulations:
(1) Attendance policies shall be firm but fair so that each student has a reasonable opportunity to meet the minimum requirements;
(2) Effective accounting and reporting procedures shall be developed to keep parents or guardians informed of a student's absence from class;
(3) Policies shall accommodate extenuating circumstances created by emergencies over which the student has no control;
(4) Appeal procedures shall be included to assure the student's right of due process; and
(5) Alternative programs shall be established to provide educational options for any student who severely fails to meet minimum attendance requirements.
49-6-3006. Attendance supervisor.
(a) The sole responsibility and authority for the enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws, compiled in this part, are placed in the local board of education and its designated employees and officers.
(b) To facilitate the enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws, the director of schools shall designate at least one (1) qualified employee who shall be identified as the LEA attendance supervisor. The duties of an attendance supervisor include, but are not limited to, assisting the local board, under the direction of the director of schools, with the enforcement of the compulsory attendance laws of the state and to discharge other duties that are necessary to effectuate enforcement of laws and local policies related to absenteeism and truancy. The attendance supervisor may also be directed to devise and recommend to the director of schools, for board approval, a progressive truancy plan consistent with § 49-6-3009.
(c) The state board of education is authorized to promulgate rules regarding training, licensure, and employment qualifications of attendance supervisors.
49-6-3007. List of students–Reports of attendance–Enforcement of compulsory attendance–List of truant students.
(e)(1) By the beginning of each school year, the principal or head of school of a public, nonpublic, or church-related school shall give written notice to the parent, guardian, or person having control of a student subject to compulsory attendance that the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student must monitor the student's school attendance and require the student to attend school. The written notice must inform the parent, guardian, or other person having control of a student that a student who accumulates five (5) days of unexcused absences during the school year is subject to the LEA's progressive truancy interventions and that continued unexcused absences may result in a referral to juvenile court. The five (5) days of unexcused absences need not be five (5) consecutive days of unexcused absences.
(2) The principal of a public school must report promptly to the director of schools, or to the attendance supervisor, the names of all students who have withdrawn from school or who have accumulated three (3) days of unexcused absences. Upon a student's accumulation of three (3) days of unexcused absences, the director of schools or the attendance supervisor may serve, or cause to be served, upon the parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child subject to compulsory attendance who is unlawfully absent from school, written notice that the child's attendance at school is required by law.
(3) Additionally, the principal of a public school must report promptly to the director of schools, or to the attendance supervisor, the names of all students who have withdrawn from school or who have accumulated five (5) days of unexcused absences. Each successive accumulation of five (5) days of unexcused absences by a student must also be reported.
(4)(A) When a student accumulates five (5) days of unexcused absences, the director of schools or attendance supervisor shall serve, or cause to be served, upon the parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child subject to compulsory attendance who is unlawfully absent from school written notice that the child's attendance at school is required by law. The director of schools or attendance supervisor shall send a new notice after each successive accumulation of five (5) unexcused absences.
(B) After the child has accumulated five (5) unexcused absences, and after given adequate time, as determined by director of schools or attendance supervisor, the child's parent, guardian, or other person having control of the child has failed to turn in documentation to excuse those absences, the director of schools or attendance supervisor shall implement the truancy intervention requirements of the second tier of the progressive truancy plan as described in § 49-6-3009.
(C) This section does not prohibit a local board of education from adopting a progressive truancy plan that allows the LEA to take intervention actions before those required in this subsection (e). Such actions may include any of the truancy intervention actions required for the second or third tier of the LEA's progressive truancy plan.
(f) Except as otherwise provided by § 49-6-3001 or § 49-6-3005, this section is applicable to a child less than six (6) years of age and the child's parent, guardian, or other person having control of a child, when such person has enrolled the child in a public school; provided, that a child may be withdrawn within six (6) weeks of initial enrollment without penalty.
(g) For the purposes of this part, for recording and coding student absences from school because of disciplinary actions, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Expulsion" means removal from attendance for more than ten (10) consecutive days or more than fifteen (15) days in a month of school attendance. Multiple suspensions that occur consecutively constitute expulsion. The LEA is not eligible to receive funding for an expelled student;
(2) "Remand" means assignment to an alternative school. The student so assigned shall be included in average daily attendance and average daily membership and shall continue to be counted as present for funding purposes. The department of education shall establish a set of codes to be used for reporting reasons that students are remanded to an alternative school; and
(3) "Suspension" means dismissal for any reason from attendance at school not exceeding ten (10) consecutive days. Multiple suspensions shall not run consecutively, nor shall multiple suspensions be applied to avoid expulsion from school. The LEA remains eligible to receive funding for a suspended student.
(h)(1)(A) An LEA may enter into an agreement with the local law enforcement agency serving the LEA's area and the appropriate local government in that area to assist in the enforcement of compulsory attendance upon complying with the following conditions:
(i) Creation by the local board of education of an advisory council to assist the board in formulating the agreement. The board must include representatives of teachers, parents, administrators, and other community representatives;
(ii) Receipt of input from neighborhood groups and other interested parties; and
(iii) At least one (1) public hearing on the proposed agreement prior to its adoption by the board.
(B) The agreement must provide for:
(i) Training teachers, principals, social workers, and other school personnel concerning truancy issues;
(ii) Training of involved law enforcement personnel in the truancy law, including categories of students to which the law does not apply, such as nonpublic school students or home school students; and
(iii) Safeguards to protect students from discriminatory or selective enforcement and to protect the civil rights of students and parents.
(C) If an LEA enters into an agreement, then every public school principal or teacher employed by the LEA must report promptly to the director of schools, or the director's designated representative, the names of all students who accumulated five (5) days of unexcused absences and continue to report each subsequent unexcused absence. The five (5) days of unexcused absences need not be five (5) consecutive days of unexcused absences.
(2) If a student accumulates five (5) days of unexcused absences, the director of schools shall serve, or cause to be served, upon the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student written notice that the student's attendance at school is required. The notice must inform the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student of this subsection (h).
(3) Under the agreement, and for purposes of this section and § 37-1-102(b)(32)(A), a student who accumulates three (3) days of unexcused absences may be deemed habitually truant.
(4) The director of schools or the director's representative may issue a list of truant students to the local law enforcement agency for the purpose of allowing the law enforcement agency to take the student into temporary custody when the student is found away from the school premises, without adequate excuse, during school hours, in a public place, in any public or private conveyance, or in any place of business open to the public, unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student. The agreement shall specify that the law enforcement officer's sole function is to deliver the student to:
(A) The parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student;
(B) The principal of the school in which the student is enrolled;
(C) A truancy center established by the LEA; or
(D) The juvenile court, if the juvenile court and the local law enforcement agency have entered into a local interagency agreement.
49-6-3009. Educational neglect–Progressive truancy plans that implement tiers of intervention – Referral to juvenile court.
(a) Any parent, guardian, or other person who has control of a child, and who violates this part commits educational neglect, which is a Class C misdemeanor.
(b) Each day's unlawful absence constitutes a separate offense.
(c) A director of schools or attendance supervisor shall devise and recommend, and the local board of education shall adopt, a progressive truancy plan that implements tiers of intervention for students who violate compulsory attendance requirements prior to the filing of a truancy petition or a criminal prosecution for educational neglect. These interventions must be designed to address student conduct related to truancy in the school setting and minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court.
(d) Progressive truancy plans adopted by local boards of education pursuant to subsection (c) must be applied prior to referral to juvenile court as described in § 49-6- 3007(e)(1). Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, progressive truancy plans must include a first tier of truancy prevention that is applicable to all enrolled students, and a second and third tier of truancy intervention required for students who have accumulated a minimum of five (5) days of unexcused absences. Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, progressive truancy plans must meet the following requirements:
(1) Tier one of the progressive truancy plan must include schoolwide, prevention-oriented supports;
(2) Tier two must be implemented upon a student's accumulation of five (5) unexcused absences, as specified in the LEA's progressive truancy plan, and must include, at a minimum:
(A) A conference with the student and the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student;
(B) A resulting attendance contract to be signed by the student, the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student, and an attendance supervisor or designee. The contract must include:
(i) A specific description of the school's attendance expectations for the student;
(ii) The period for which the contract is in effect; and
(iii) Penalties for additional absences and alleged school offenses, including additional disciplinary action and potential referral to juvenile court; and
(C) Regularly scheduled follow-up meetings, which may be with the student and the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student to discuss the student's progress;
(D) An individualized assessment by a school employee of the reasons a student has been absent from school; and
(E) If necessary, referral of the child to counseling, community-based services, or other in-school or out-of-school services aimed at addressing the student's attendance problems; and
(3) Tier three must be implemented if the truancy interventions under tier two are unsuccessful. Tier three may consist of one (1) or more of the following:
(A) School-based community services;
(B) Participation in a school-based restorative justice program;
(C) Referral to a school-based teen court; or
(D) Saturday or after school courses designed to improve attendance and behavior.
(e) In-school suspension or out-of-school suspension must not be used as part of the progressive truancy intervention plans adopted by schools for unexcused absence from class or school.
(f)(1) Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g), if any tier of progressive truancy intervention is unsuccessful with a student and the school can document that the student's parent or guardian is unwilling to cooperate with the truancy intervention requirements outlined in the progressive truancy plan, then the director of schools, or the director's designee, may report the student's absences to the appropriate judge pursuant to subsection (g) without first having to implement subsequent intervention tiers, if any.
(2) For purposes of this subsection (f), evidence of a parent's or guardian's unwillingness to cooperate with the truancy intervention requirements outlined in the progressive truancy plan includes, but is not limited to, a parent's or guardian's failure or refusal, on multiple occasions, to attend conferences, return telephone calls, attend follow-up meetings, enter into an attendance contract, or actively participate in any of the tiers of truancy intervention outlined in subsection (d) or in the local board of education's progressive truancy plan.
(g) If an LEA has applied a progressive truancy plan that complies with subsection (d) and interventions under the plan have failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance, the director of schools, after written notice to the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student, shall report the student who is unlawfully absent from school to the appropriate judge having juvenile jurisdiction in that county. Each case must be dealt with in such manner as the judge may determine to be in the best interest of the student, consistent with §§ 37-1-132, 37-1-168, and 37-1-169. In the event a student in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) is adjudicated to be unruly because the student has accumulated five (5) days or more of unexcused absences during any school year, the judge may assess a fine of up to fifty dollars ($50.00) or five (5) hours of community service, in the discretion of the judge, against the parent or legal guardian of the student.
(h) Each referral to juvenile court for conduct described in subsection (g) and § 49-6-3007(h)(4)(D) must be accompanied by a statement from the student's school certifying that:
(1) The school applied the progressive truancy interventions of the progressive truancy plan adopted under subsection (d) for the student; and
(2) The progressive truancy interventions failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance.
(i) A court shall dismiss a complaint or referral made by an LEA under this section that is not made in compliance with subsection (h).
(j) Notwithstanding any other law, each LEA having previously adopted an effective progressive truancy intervention program that substantially conforms to this section may present the intervention program to the commissioner of education for approval in lieu of strict compliance with this section. If the commissioner does not approve the intervention plan, the LEA shall modify the plan according to the commissioner's recommendations and resubmit the revised plan for approval by the commissioner.
(k) Each head of school of a nonpublic or church-related school shall recommend, and the governing board of the school shall adopt, a policy addressing compulsory attendance and truancy that describes the interventions that the school will employ for violations of the compulsory attendance laws. The policy shall provide that the director of schools or the attendance supervisor in the LEA where the student's home of record is located will be notified in the event that a student at a nonpublic or church-related school is expelled or withdraws from school.
(l) Parents, guardians, or other persons having control of a student who is required to attend remedial instruction under § 49-6-3021 commit educational neglect, as defined in subsection (a), if the student is truant from the instruction.
(m) For purposes of this section, all references to "intervention," "truancy intervention," or "progressive truancy intervention" are deemed references to the truancy interventions of the second and third tiers of a progressive truancy plan.
49-6-3012. Truancy schools.
(a) The board of education having charge of the public schools of any local school system having a population of ten thousand (10,000) or more, according to the federal census of 1950 or any subsequent federal census, may establish a truancy school, either within or without the city limits, for children who are between seven (7) and sixteen (16) years of age, both inclusive, and who are habitual truants, or while in attendance at school are incorrigible, vicious, immoral or who habitually wander or loiter about without lawful employment.
(b) Such children shall be deemed disorderly juvenile persons, and may be compelled by the board to attend the truancy school or any department of the public school as the board may direct.
(c) Any board of education having charge of schools affected by this part shall have authority to exclude any delinquent pupil whose influence is deemed by the board to be demoralizing or injurious to other pupils attending the schools.
49-6-7005. Improving parental involvement in children's education.
(d) Parenting classes in these parent involvement programs should provide parents with information and skills related to improving student performance. For example, these classes may address:
(7) The importance of school attendance and the consequences of truancy.
0520-01-02-.17. State attendance guidelines.
(5) Each local board of education shall adopt an attendance policy in accordance with the State Board's School Attendance Policy 4.100 that is firm, but fair; includes effective accounting and reporting procedures; accounts for extenuating circumstances; includes appeal procedures; and establishes and maintains alternative programs for students who fail to meet minimum attendance requirements.
(a) The policy shall address the excusing of absences in accordance with the State Board's School Attendance Policy 4.100.
(b) The policy shall address unexcused absences in accordance with the State Board's School Attendance Policy 4.100.
(c) The policy shall align with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act [found at 42 U.S.C. §§ 11431., et seq.].
(d) Local attendance policies shall not be used to penalize students academically.
(e) The attendance policy adopted by the local board of education shall be posted at each school, and school counselors shall be supplied copies for discussion with students. The policy shall be referenced in all school handbooks. All teachers, administrative staff, and parents/guardians shall be provided copies of the policy.
(6) Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-6-3009., each local board of education shall adopt a progressive truancy intervention plan for students who violate compulsory attendance requirements prior to the filing of a truancy petition or a criminal prosecution for educational neglect. These interventions must be designed to address student conduct related to truancy in the school setting and minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court.
(7) Whenever possible, attendance issues should be resolved at the school level. To ensure due process, Local boards of education must adopt a policy that affords students with excessive (more than 5) unexcused absences the opportunity to appeal. Such policy must, at minimum, include written or actual notice to the student or their parent/guardian and the opportunity to be heard. The burden of proof rests on the student or their parent/guardian. The appeal process for determining unexcused absences is ancillary to a truancy decision rendered by a juvenile court judge as described in T.C.A. § 49-6-3010.
(8) LEAs are encouraged to develop truancy boards, youth courts, or other alternative programs to serve as an intervention for students with excessive absences. These may be in addition to, or a part of, the progressive truancy intervention plan required by T.C.A. § 49-6-3009.