Local Education Agencies

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on penalties for non-compliance with the record-keeping requirements.

Student Attendance Records and Truancy Interventions

This bill changes how student attendance records are handled when students transfer between schools or districts and updates truancy intervention requirements.

What This Bill Does

• Requires local education agencies (LEAs) to provide a transferring student's attendance records within five business days of receiving the request.
• Updates the progressive truancy plan to include reporting absences to juvenile court if a student who was getting tier three interventions withdraws and does not transfer to another LEA.
• Removes the limit on community service hours for parents or guardians when their child is adjudicated unruly due to unexcused absences, but keeps the maximum fine at $50.
• Ensures that a student's unexcused absences from one school follow them if they transfer to another during the same school year.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students who transfer between schools or districts
• Local education agencies (LEAs) and their directors of schools
• Judges with juvenile jurisdiction

Terms To Know

local education agency (LEA)

An organization responsible for providing public education in a specific area, such as a school district.

progressive truancy plan

A system of interventions designed to address and reduce student absences from school.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how LEAs should handle attendance records for students transferring before the start of a new school year.
• It is unclear if there are any penalties for LEAs that do not comply with the record-keeping and reporting requirements.
• The effectiveness of these changes in reducing truancy rates has not been determined.

Official Summary Text

Under present law, if a student transfers from one school to another school in the same LEA, or from one LEA to another LEA, then a copy of the student's records, including the student's academic, disciplinary, behavioral, and special education records, m
ust be provided to the school or LEA to which the student transfers within five business days of the date on which the student's records request was received by the school or LEA. This bill adds that a student's attendance records must be provided in the

same manner as other required records upon the student's transfer.

Present law requires local boards of education to adopt a progressive truancy plan that implements three 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.

If a student withdraws from an LEA in which the student was receiving tier two or tier three interventions pursuant to the LEA's progressive truancy plan, and the student does not transfer to another LEA, then this bill requires the director of schools t
o report the student's absences to the judge with juvenile jurisdiction in the county in which the student resides.

This bill removes the five-hour limit on the amount of community service that a judge may order for the parent or guardian of a student who is adjudicated to be unruly because the student has accumulated five days or more of unexcused absences during any
school year. The maximum fine remains $50.00.

Under this bill, if a student transfers during the school year, then the number of unexcused absences accumulated in the school year by the student at the school or LEA from which the student is transferring must be included in the number of unexcused ab
sences for the student at the receiving school or LEA.

ON MARCH 2, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1968, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 limits the application of the bill from a student who was receiving tier two or tier three interventions, to a student who was receiving tier three interventions, and revises the transfer of records requirements to, instead:



Require th
e attendance records for a student who transfers or withdraws from an LEA or public school, including a public charter school, after the school year has commenced
to
be maintained by the LEA or public school from which the student transferred or withdrew for the remainder of the school year.



Require an
LEA or public school that enrolls a student after the school year has commenced
to
determine during the enrollment process whether the student was previously enrolled in another LEA or public school at any time during that same school year. If the LEA or public school determines that the student was previously enrolled in another LEA or public school in the same school year for which the student seeks to enroll in the LEA or public school, then the enrolling LEA or public school
must
request the student's attendance records from each LEA or public school at which the student was previously enrolled during that same school year. A former LEA or public school that receives
such
a request from another LEA or public school
must
provide the attendance records for the respective school year to the requesting LEA or public school within five business days of the date on which the request was received.



Require an
LEA or public school that enrolls, after the school year has commenced, a student who was previously enrolled in another LEA or public school at any time during that same school year
to
include the number of any unexcused absences accumulated by the student at the student's former LEA or public school in the same school year in the number of unexcused absences for the student at the enrolling LEA or public school and
to
implement the appropriate tier of the enrolling LEA's progressive truancy plan, if applicable.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 1823
By Raper

SENATE BILL 1968
By Lowe
SB1968
011662
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 37,
Chapter 1, Part 1; Title 49, Chapter 1; Title 49,
Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6, relative to
attendance.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3001(c)(1)(B)(i), is amended by
adding "attendance," before "academic," wherever it appears.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3009, is amended by adding
the following as new subsections:
(o)
(1) If a student withdraws from an LEA, as defined in § 49-1-103, in
which the student was receiving tier two or tier three interventions pursuant to the
LEA's progressive truancy plan, and the student does not transfer to another
LEA, as defined in § 49-1-103, then the director of schools shall report the
student's absences to the judge with juvenile jurisdiction in the county in which
the student resides.
(2) 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 community service, in the
discretion of the judge, against the parent or legal guardian of the student.

- 2 - 011662

(3) A referral to juvenile court for conduct described in this subsection (o)
must be accompanied by a statement from the director of schools certifying that:
(A) The school applied the progressive truancy interventions of
the progressive truancy plan adopted under subsection (d) for the student
while the student was enrolled in the LEA; and
(B) The student withdrew from the LEA and has not enrolled in
another LEA.
(p) If a student transfers during the school year, then the number of unexcused
absences accumulated in the school year by the student at the school or LEA from
which the student is transferring must be included in the number of unexcused absences
for the student at the receiving school or LEA for purposes of this section.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3009(i), is amended by adding
"or subsection (o), if applicable" after "with subsection (h)".
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3009(g), is amended by
deleting "five (5) hours of".
SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3007, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
(i) If a student transfers during the school year, then the number of unexcused
absences accumulated in the school year by the student at the school or LEA from
which the student is transferring must be included in the number of unexcused absences
for the student at the receiving school or LEA for purposes of this section.
SECTION 6. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.