Amendment H-8172 to HF 2547
Relating to education, including by requiring school engagement meetings and attendance cooperation proceedings when children are absent from school, requiring school districts to restrict student use of cellular phones and smartphones, modifying provisions related to open enrollment of truant students, and modifying penalties
Withdrawn · March 12, 2024Strike everything: replaces the whole bill
Filed March 7, 2024 in the House by
What it changes
AI summary This amendment replaces the entire bill with a new version that focuses only on requiring attendance cooperation meetings for chronically absent students and requiring school districts to create policies restricting cell phone use during class. It removes the parts of the original bill regarding open enrollment for truant students and modified penalties.1
Read the amendment’s wording
- By striking everything after the enacting clause and inserting: “Section
- Section 299.12, Code 2024, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 299.12 Failure to attend —— attendance cooperation meeting —— agreement.
- As used in this section: a. “Chronically absent” means any absence from school for more than ten percent of the days in a school calendar established pursuant to section 279.10 by a public school or an accredited nonpublic school. b. “School official” means an employee of a public school or an accredited nonpublic school whose primary job duties involve identifying children who are at risk for becoming chronically absent, creating interventions to limit the rate of student absenteeism in the public school or accredited nonpublic school, and participating in the legal process related to student absenteeism.
- a. If a child is chronically absent, a school official shall attempt to find the cause for the child’s absences and shall initiate and participate in an attendance cooperation meeting. The purpose of the attendance cooperation meeting is to identify the child’s barriers to attendance and the interventions that may be used to improve the child’s attendance. All of the following individuals shall participate in the attendance cooperation meeting: (1) The child, if the child is twelve years of age or older or is an emancipated minor. (2) The child’s parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian, if the child is not an emancipated minor. (3) A school official. b. (1) During the attendance cooperation meeting, the participants shall create and sign an attendance cooperation agreement. Each participant signing the attendance cooperation agreement shall receive a copy of the agreement. The attendance cooperation agreement shall identify the causes of the child’s absences and the future responsibilities of each participant related to the child’s attendance. (2) A school official shall monitor the participants’ compliance with the terms of the attendance cooperation agreement. The attendance cooperation agreement shall require a school official to periodically contact the participants to monitor the performance of the participants under the agreement. c. During the attendance cooperation meeting, a school official may initiate referrals to any services or counseling that the participants believe may be appropriate under the circumstances to improve the child’s attendance. d. If the participants in the attendance cooperation meeting fail to enter into an attendance cooperation agreement, or if the child or the child’s parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian violates a term of the attendance cooperation agreement or fails to participate in the attendance cooperation meeting, the school official may refer the matter to the county attorney for mediation or prosecution within the county where the school’s central administrative office is located. e. This subsection is not applicable to a child who is receiving competent private instruction or independent private instruction in accordance with the requirements of chapter 299A. Sec.
- SCHOOL DISTRICTS —— POLICIES RELATED TO PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
- a. On or before December 31, 2024, each school district shall develop a policy that restricts student use of cellular telephones and smartphones during classroom instructional time. b. The policy shall describe with specificity the expectations related to student use of cellular telephones and smartphones during the school day and disciplinary actions the school district will take if a student violates the policy. c. The policy shall apply to all attendance centers within the school district; provided, however, that the policy may establish different expectations and disciplinary actions for different grade levels. d. The policy shall describe the circumstances in which an employee of the school district may temporarily waive or make exceptions to the policy for a student in cases that require that reasonable exceptions be made.
- The school district shall make the policy available to the public, including by publishing the policy on the school district’s internet site. Sec.
- STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid received by the school district under section 257.16. This specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts.”
- Title page, by striking lines 1 and 2 and inserting “An Act relating to education, including by requiring attendance cooperation meetings when a child is chronically absent from school and requiring school districts to develop policies restricting student use of cellular telephones and smartphones.”