A bill for an act modifying provisions related to notices that school officials are required to send when a child becomes chronically absent.

House

File

555

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

555

BY

BAGNIEWSKI

and

LOHSE

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

modifying

provisions

related

to

notices

that

school

1

officials

are

required

to

send

when

a

child

becomes

2

chronically

absent.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

2754YH

(3)

91

jda/jh

H.F.

555

Section

1.

Section

299.12,

subsection

2,

paragraph

a,

Code

1

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

(1)

When

a

child

becomes

chronically

absent,

a

school

3

official

shall

send

do

all

of

the

following:

4

(a)

Send

a

notice

by

ordinary

mail

or

electronic

mail

to

5

the

county

attorney

of

the

county

in

which

the

public

school’s

6

central

administrative

office

is

located

,

and

.

7

(b)

Send

a

notice

by

certified

ordinary

mail

,

and

8

electronic

mail

if

known,

to

the

child’s

parent,

guardian,

9

or

legal

or

actual

custodian

of

the

child,

if

the

child

is

10

not

an

emancipated

minor,

or

to

the

child,

if

the

child

is

an

11

emancipated

minor

,

that

includes

.

12

(2)

The

notices

sent

pursuant

to

subparagraph

(1)

must

13

include

information

related

to

the

child’s

absences

from

school

14

and

the

policies

and

disciplinary

processes

associated

with

15

additional

absences.

16

EXPLANATION

17

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

18

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

19

This

bill

modifies

provisions

related

to

notices

that

school

20

officials

are

required

to

send

when

a

child

becomes

chronically

21

absent.

22

Current

law

provides

that

when

a

child

becomes

chronically

23

absent

under

Code

section

299.12

(failure

to

attend),

a

school

24

official

is

required

to

send

a

notice

by

certified

mail

to

25

the

child’s

parent,

guardian,

or

legal

or

actual

custodian,

26

if

the

child

is

not

an

emancipated

minor,

or

to

the

child,

if

27

the

child

is

an

emancipated

minor,

that

includes

information

28

related

to

the

child’s

absences

from

school

and

the

policies

29

and

disciplinary

processes

associated

with

additional

absences.

30

The

bill

modifies

this

provision

to

provide

that

the

school

31

official

is

required

to

send

the

notice

by

ordinary

mail

and

by

32

electronic

mail,

if

the

school

official

knows

the

electronic

33

mail

address.

34

-1-

LSB

2754YH

(3)

91

jda/jh

1/

1