Rhode Island SB 3071: AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT

Bill Text

2024 -- S 3071 
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LC006087 
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S T A T E     O F     R H O D E     I S L A N D 
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 
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A N   A C T 
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- ATTENDANCE FOR SUCCESS ACT 
Introduced By: Senator Sandra Cano 
Date Introduced: May 10, 2024 
Referred To: Senate Education 
(Dept. of Education) 
 
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 
SECTION 1. This  act  shall  be  known  and  may  be  cited  as  the  "Attendance  for Success 1 
Act."  2 
SECTION 2. Chapter 16-19 of the General Laws entitled "Compulsory Attendance [See 3 
Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended by adding 4 
thereto the following sections: 5 
16-19-11. Attendance for success act - Definitions.     6 
As used in §§ 16-19-11 through 16-19-19, inclusive, the following words and terms shall 7 
have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:   8 
(1) "Absent" means not in attendance for at least fifty percent (50%) of a "school day" as 9 
defined  in  this  section;  provided  that,  "absent"  does  not  apply  to  participation  in  interscholastic 10 
extracurricular activities; 11 
(2) "Act" means this "attendance for success act," as codified in §§ 16-19-11 through 16-12 
19 -19; 13 
(3)  "Attendance  improvement  plan"  means  a  tiered  data-informed  system  for  public 14 
schools and school districts to identify students who are chronically or excessively absent and to 15 
aid public schools in developing whole-school prevention strategies and targeted interventions, and 16 
may include programs to enable students to remove absences from their record; provided that, the 17 
programs  shall  be  in  compliance  with  regulations  to  be  developed  by  the  commissioner  for 18 
elementary and secondary education and shall be approved by the commissioner. Each of the tiers 19 

 
 
 
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is defined as follows: 1 
(i) "Whole school prevention" means universal, whole school prevention strategies for all 2 
students, including students who have missed less than five percent (5%) of classes or school days 3 
for any reason; 4 
(ii)  "Individualized  prevention"  means  targeted  prevention  strategies  for  individual 5 
students who are missing five percent (5%) or more but less than ten percent (10%) of classes or 6 
school days for any reason; 7 
(iii)  "Early  intervention"  means  interventions  for  students  who  are  missing  ten  percent 8 
(10%) or more but less than twenty percent (20%) of classes or school days for any reason; and 9 
(iv) "Intensive support" means interventions for students who are missing twenty percent 10 
(20%) or more of classes or school days for any reason; 11 
(4) "Attendance team" means a group of school-based administrators, teachers, staff, other 12 
school   personnel   and   community   members   who   collaborate   to   implement   an   attendance 13 
improvement plan; 14 
(5)  "Chronic  absence  rate"  means  the  percentage  of  students,  in  the  aggregate  and 15 
disaggregated  by  the  subgroups  required  for  reporting  pursuant  to  the  federal  Every  Student 16 
Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. §6301), in a school and a school district who have been enrolled for at 17 
least  ten  (10)  days  and  who  have  missed  ten  percent  (10%)  or  more  of  school  days  since  the 18 
beginning of the school year; 19 
(6) "Chronically absent" or "chronic absenteeism" means that a student has been absent for 20 
ten percent (10%) or more of school days for any reason, whether excused or not, when enrolled 21 
for more than ten (10) days; 22 
(7)  "Department"  means  the  Rhode  Island  department  of  elementary  and  secondary 23 
education; 24 
(8) "Excessively absent" or "excessive absenteeism" means a student who is identified as 25 
needing intensive support and has not responded to intervention efforts implemented by the public 26 
school; 27 
(9)  "Excused  absence"  means  an  absence  from  a  class  or  school  day  for  a  death  in  the 28 
family, medical absence, religious instruction or tribal obligations or any other allowable excuse 29 
pursuant to this chapter and the policies of the local educational agency; 30 
(10) "Interscholastic extracurricular activities" means those activities sponsored by a public 31 
school or an organization whose principal purpose is the regulation, direction, administration and 32 
supervision of interscholastic extracurricular activities in public schools; 33 
(11)  "Local  educational  agency"  or  "LEA"  means  a  public  board  of  education  or  other 34 

 
 
 
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public authority legally constituted within the state for either administrative control or direction of, 1 
or  to  perform  a  service  function  for,  public  elementary  or  secondary  schools  in  a  city,  school 2 
district, or other political subdivision of the  state,  or for a  combination of school district