The Iowa House Education Committee voted to advance a bill on Tuesday that aims to fix a few things related to chronic absenteeism in Iowa schools.
Senate File 277 requires the Department of Education to develop a model policy for county attorneys regarding the enforcement of truancy laws and adds four new exceptions — military entrance processing, military service, traveling to attend a funeral and traveling to attend a wedding — to the list of exceptions to the policy.
It will also remove the requirement to use certified mail to notify parents, which was a burdensome cost for larger school districts. The school is mandated to arrange an engagement meeting if the absences are negatively impacting the student’s academic progress.
Democrat State Rep. Eric Gjerde said he would like to discuss an amendment addressing the portion of the bill that requires schools to attempt to find the cause for a child’s absence if they miss 15 percent of days or hours in a grading period.
Gjerde said for parents who take their child to the orthodontist or speech therapy, getting a note for the school every time is “another hoop” to jump through.
“If a parent is calling their student out for a medical reason, I’d like to think that we trust parents and the decisions that they make for their kid and what’s best for their student,” he said. “If it is becoming a chronic issue where they’re missing a lot of school, I understand. If a student is missing an hour once a month or two hours every couple of weeks to go to a medical appointment, I think it’s extremely cumbersome for a parent to have to remember to get a letter to present to the school when there isn’t an issue.”
The bill passed the committee 21-2. It has already cleared the Iowa Senate.
