| Chapter 369 |
| 2022 -- H 8348 Enacted 06/29/2022 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO EDUCATION -- COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE -- SEE TITLE 16 CHAPTER 97 - THE RHODE ISLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION ACT |
Introduced By: Representatives Barros, Amore, McNamara, and Giraldo |
| Date Introduced: June 16, 2022 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 16-19-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-19 entitled "Compulsory |
| Attendance [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby |
| amended to read as follows: |
| 16-19-1. Attendance required. |
| (a) Every child who has completed, or will have completed, six (6) years of life on or before |
| September 1 of any school year, or is enrolled in kindergarten, and has not completed eighteen (18) |
| years of life, shall regularly attend some public day school during all the days and hours that the |
| public schools are in session in the city or town in which the child resides. The public school shall |
| be responsible for regular attendance data monitoring of all students and early identification of |
| emergent truant behavior. Prior to referring truant students to family court, schools must do their |
| due diligence to assure all interventions have taken place. This includes, and is not limited to: |
| (1) Consultation with the parent or guardian; and |
| (2) Coordination with the student's school-identified support team such as the |
| individualized education plan, behavioral support, or attendance teams. |
| Every person having under his or her control a child, as described in this section, shall |
| cause the child to attend school as required by this section, and for every neglect of this duty, the |
| person having control of the child shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day, |
| or part of a day, that the child fails to attend school, and if the total of these days is more than thirty |
| (30) school days during any school year, then the person shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned not |
| exceeding six (6) months or shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both; |
| provided, that if the person so charged shall prove that the child has attended, for the required period |
| of time, a private day school approved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education |
| pursuant to ยง 16-60-6(10); or a course of at-home instruction approved by the school committee of |
| the town where the child resides; or has been accepted into an accredited postsecondary education |
| program; or has obtained a waiver under subsection (b); or that the physical or mental condition of |
| the child was such as to render his or her attendance at school inexpedient or impracticable; or that |
| the child was excluded from school by virtue of some other general law or regulation, then |
| attendance shall not be obligatory nor shall the penalty be incurred. |
| (b) A waiver to the compulsory attendance requirement may be granted by the |
| superintendent only upon proof that the pupil is sixteen (16) years of age or older and has an |
| alternative learning plan for obtaining either a high school diploma or its equivalent. |
| (1) Alternative-learning plans shall include age-appropriate academic rigor and the |
| flexibility to incorporate the pupil's interests and manner of learning. These plans may include, but |
| are not limited to, such components, or combination of components, of extended learning |
| opportunities as independent study, private instruction, performing groups, internships, community |
| service, apprenticeships, and online courses that are currently funded and available to the school |
| department and/or the community. |
| (2) Alternative-learning plans shall be developed, and amended if necessary, in |
| consultation with the pupil, a school guidance counselor, the school principal, and at least one |
| parent or guardian of the pupil, and submitted to the superintendent for approval. |
| (3) If the superintendent does not approve the alternative-learning plan, the parent or |
| guardian of the pupil may appeal such decision to the school committee. A parent or guardian may |
| appeal the decision of the school committee to the commissioner of education pursuant to chapter |
| 39 of title 16. |
| (c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or otherwise interfere with the rights of |
| teachers and other school employees to collectively bargain pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of title |
| 28 or to allow any school committee to abrogate any agreement reached by collective bargaining. |
| (d) No school shall use a student's truancy or absenteeism as the sole basis for using an out- |
| of-school suspension as a disciplinary action. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC006116 |
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