Colorado School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy

Colorado School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy

Category: Discipline Addressing Specific Code of Conduct Violations
Subcategory: Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy
State: Colorado

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Colorado

LAWS

13-5-145. Truancy detention reduction policy–legislative declaration.

(1) The general assembly finds that:

(a) Imposing a sentence of detention on a juvenile who violates a court order to attend school does not improve the likelihood that the juvenile will attend school and does not address the underlying causes of the juvenile's truancy;

(b) The best methods to address truancy and its underlying causes and the resources needed to implement those methods are different in each community;

(c) Since 2014, the juvenile courts in many judicial districts around the state have successfully reduced the use of detention for juveniles who are truant by implementing pilot projects through which the juvenile court imposes reasonable sanctions and, where possible, provides incentives to attend school, reserving detention as a sanction of last resort; and

(d) These pilot projects need additional time to produce meaningful data regarding the effectiveness of the alternate sanctions and incentives and to determine whether they result in improved outcomes for juveniles and their families.

(2) The chief judge in each judicial district, or his or her designee, shall convene a meeting of community stakeholders to create a policy for addressing truancy cases that seeks alternatives to the use of detention as a sanction for truancy. Community stakeholders may include, but need not be limited to:

(a) Parents;

(b) Representatives from school districts;

(d) Guardians ad litem;

(e) Court-appointed special advocates;

(f) Juvenile court judges;

(g) Respondent counsel;

(h) Representatives from law enforcement agencies;

(i) Mental health care providers;

(j) Substance use disorder treatment providers;

(k) Representatives from the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety;

(l) Representatives from the state department of human services; and

(m) Representatives from the department of education.

(3) The chief judge in each judicial district shall adopt a policy for addressing truancy cases no later than March 15, 2016. In developing the policy for addressing truancy cases, the chief judge and the community stakeholders shall consider, at a minimum:

(a) Best practices for addressing truancy that are used in other judicial districts and in other states;

(b) Evidence-based practices to address and reduce truancy;

(d) Using detention only as a last resort after exhausting all other reasonable sanctions and, when imposing detention, appropriately reducing the number of days served; and

(e) Research regarding the effect of detention on juveniles.

(4) The state court administrator's office shall report to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, no later than April 15, 2016, regarding the policy for addressing truancy cases adopted by each judicial district.

22-11-302. School district accountability committee–powers and duties.

(1) Each school district accountability committee has the following powers and duties:

(g) To increase the level of parent engagement in the school district and in the public schools of the school district, especially the engagement of parents of students in the populations described in section 22-11-301 (3). The committee's activities to increase parent engagement must include, but need not be limited to:

(III) Assisting school personnel to increase parents' engagement with educators, including but not limited to parents' engagement in creating students' READ plans pursuant to part 12 of article 7 of this title, in creating individual career and academic plans pursuant to section 22-32-109 (1)(oo), and in creating plans to address habitual truancy pursuant to section 22-33-107 (3).

22-11-402. School accountability committee–powers and duties–meetings.

(1) Each school accountability committee has the following powers and duties:

(h) To increase the level of parent engagement in the school, especially the engagement of parents of students in the populations described in section 22-11-401 (1)(d). The committee's activities to increase parent engagement must include, but need not be limited to:

(III) Assisting school personnel to increase parents' engagement with teachers, including but not limited to parents' engagement in creating students' READ plans pursuant to part 12 of article 7 of this title, in creating individual career and academic plans pursuant to section 22-32-109 (1)(oo) or 22-30.5-525, and in creating plans to address habitual truancy pursuant to section 22-33-107 (3).

22-32-118.5. Intervention strategies–students at risk of dropping out–legislative declaration.

(1) The general assembly finds that research shows there are certain behaviors such as truancy, low academic achievement, and misbehavior that results in suspension or expulsion that, when exhibited by a student, are clear indications that the student is at increased risk of dropping out of school before graduation. These behaviors are often noticeable as early as grades six through nine and, even at this relatively early stage of a student's academic career, are accurate predictors of whether the student will graduate or drop out of high school. The general assembly further finds that interventions with students who demonstrate these behaviors in these middle grades can be very successful in enabling the student to refocus his or her efforts, improve in academic achievement, and successfully graduate from high school. Therefore, it is the intent of the general assembly that school districts and public schools focus attention on the data collected for students in these middle grades, identify students who require interventions, and provide the appropriate interventions to assist students in graduating from high school.

(2)(a) Each school district board of education shall consider adopting procedures by which the schools of the school district, including charter schools, that include any of grades six through nine shall review the relevant data for students in those grades and identify students who are demonstrating behaviors that indicate the student is at greater risk of dropping out of school. The behaviors may include, but need not be limited to, low academic achievement, truancy, insubordinate behavior, and disengagement.

(b) The procedures may specify that, after a school identifies a student as being at increased risk of dropping out of school, the school shall provide appropriate interventions that are designed to assist the student in improving his or her academic performance and behavior and in increasing his or her overall level of engagement in school. Interventions may include, but need not be limited to, counseling, tutoring, parent engagement, and developmental education services.

(c) If a school district board of education adopts procedures pursuant to this subsection (2), the school district shall notify a student's parents as soon as possible after the school district identifies the student as being at greater risk of dropping out of school. The school district shall provide to the student's parents a description of the interventions that the school district intends to implement for the student, if any. The parent may approve or reject the described interventions. If the parent rejects the interventions, the school district shall not implement the interventions. The parent may terminate the interventions at any time after the school district begins providing the interventions.

(d) A parent may contact the school district in which his or her student is enrolled to request interventions pursuant to this subsection (2) if the parent determines that the student is at greater risk of dropping out of school.

22-33-104. Compulsory school attendance.

(4)(a) The board of education shall adopt a written policy setting forth the district's attendance requirements. The policy must provide for excused absences, including those listed as exclusions from compulsory school attendance in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, as well as temporary absences due to behavioral health concerns. An attendance policy developed pursuant to this section may include appropriate penalties for nonattendance due to unexcused absence.

(b) The attendance policy adopted pursuant to this subsection (4) shall specify the maximum number of unexcused absences a child may incur before the attorney for the school district, the attendance officer, or the local board of education may initiate judicial proceedings pursuant to section 22-33-108. Calculation of the number of unexcused absences a child has incurred includes all unexcused absences occurring during any calendar year or during any school year.

(b.5) Each board of education is encouraged to establish attendance procedures for identifying students who are chronically absent and to implement best practices and research-based strategies to improve the attendance of students who are chronically absent.

(c) On or before January 1, 2009, the state board shall adopt rules establishing a standardized calculation for counting unexcused absences of students, including the circumstance in which a student is absent for part of a school day, and the format for reporting the information to the department pursuant to section 22-33-107.

22-33-107. Enforcement of compulsory school attendance–definitions.

(1) The board of education of each school district shall designate one or more of the employees of the district to act as attendance officer for the district. It is the attendance officer's duty in appropriate cases to counsel with students and parents and investigate the causes of nonattendance and report to the local board of education so as to enforce the provisions of this article which relate to compulsory attendance.

(2) The commissioner of education shall designate an employee of the department of education whose duty it is to assist the individual school districts and to supervise the enforcement of compulsory school attendance for the entire state.

(3)(a) As used in this subsection (3):

(II) "Local community services group" means the local juvenile services planning committee created pursuant to section 19-2-211, C.R.S., the local collaborative management group created by a memorandum of understanding entered into pursuant to section 24-1.9-102, C.R.S., or another local group of public agencies that collaborate with the school district to identify and provide support services for students.

(b) The board of education of each school district shall adopt and implement policies and procedures concerning elementary and secondary school attendance, including but not limited to policies and procedures to work with children who are habitually truant. The policies and procedures must include provisions for the development of a plan. The plan must be developed with the goal of assisting the child to remain in school and, when practicable, with the full participation of the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian. Appropriate school personnel shall make all reasonable efforts to meet with the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child to review and evaluate the reasons for the child's truancy. The appropriate school personnel are encouraged to work with the local community services group to develop the plan. The plan must be in compliance with section 22-33-108 (7) and include appropriate sanctions other than placement in a juvenile detention facility for a child who is habitually truant and who has refused to comply with the plan. The policies and procedures may also include but need not be limited to the following:

(I.5) Procedures to monitor the attendance of each child enrolled in the school district to identify each child who has a significant number of unexcused absences and to work with the local community services group and the child's parent to identify and address the likely issues underlying the child's truancy, including any nonacademic issues;

(II) Annually at the beginning of the school year and upon any enrollment during the school year, notifying the parent of each child enrolled in the public schools in writing of such parent's obligations pursuant to section 22-33-104 (5) and requesting that the parent acknowledge in writing awareness of such obligations;

(III) Annually at the beginning of the school year and upon any enrollment during the school year, obtaining from the parent of each child a telephone number or other means of contacting such parent during the school day; and

(IV) Establishing a system of monitoring individual unexcused absences of children which shall provide that, whenever a child who is enrolled in a public school fails to report to school on a regularly scheduled school day and school personnel have received no indication that the child's parent is aware of the child's absence, school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel shall make a reasonable effort to notify by telephone such parent. Any person who, in good faith, gives or fails to give notice pursuant to this subparagraph (IV) shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, which might otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity with respect to any judicial proceeding which results from such notice or failure to give such notice.

(4) On or before September 15, 2010, and on or before September 15 each year thereafter, the board of education of each school district shall report to the department of education the number of children who are habitually truant, as defined in section 22-33-102 (3.5), for the preceding academic year. The department shall post this information for each school district on its website for the public to access and may post additional information reported by school districts related to truancy.

(5) The department of education may post on its website information concerning effective, research-based, truancy- and dropout-prevention programs for the benefit of school districts.

22-33-107.5. Notice of failure to attend.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, a school district shall notify the appropriate court or parole board if a student fails to attend all or any portion of a school day where the school district has received notice from the court or parole board:

(a) Pursuant to section 19-2-508 (3)(a)(X) that the student is required to attend school as a condition of release pending an adjudicatory trial;

(b) Pursuant to section 17-22.5-404, 18-1.3-204 (2.3), 19-2-907 (4), 19-2-925 (9), or 19-2-1002 (1) or (3) that the student is required to attend school as a condition of or in connection with any sentence imposed by the court, including a condition of probation or parole; or

(c) Pursuant to section 13-10-113 (8), C.R.S., that the student is required to attend school as a condition of or in connection with any sentence imposed by a municipal court.

(2) If the school district has notice that a student who is required to attend school as a condition of release or as a condition of or in connection with any sentence imposed by a court, including a condition of probation or parole, has enrolled in a nonpublic home-based educational program, pursuant to section 22-33-104.5, or in an independent or parochial school, the school district shall notify the appropriate court or parole board and shall no longer be required to notify the court or parole board, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, if the student fails to attend.

22-33-108. Judicial proceedings.

(2) If a child or his parent desires court review of an order of the board of education issued pursuant to this article, he shall notify the board in writing within five days after receiving official notification of the board's action. The board of education shall thereupon issue, or cause to be issued, to the child or his parent a statement of the reasons for the board's action. Within ten days thereafter the child or his parents may file with the court a petition requesting that the order of the board of education be set aside, to which shall be appended the statement of the board of education. No docket or other fees shall be collected by the court in connection with this proceeding.

(3) After the petition is filed, the court shall notify the board and shall hold a hearing on the matter. The court shall conduct judicial review of a hearing decision pursuant to rule 106 (a)(4) of the Colorado rules of civil procedure and rule 3.8 of the Colorado rules of juvenile procedure.

(4) It is the duty of the attorney for the school district, an employee authorized by the local board of education pursuant to section 13-1-127 (7), C.R.S., to represent the school district in truancy proceedings, the attendance officer designated by the local board of education, or the local board of education to initiate, when appropriate, proceedings for the enforcement of the compulsory attendance provisions of this article upon request by the attendance officer of the district or of the state.

(5)(a) It is the intent of the general assembly that, in enforcing the compulsory school attendance requirements of this article, a school district shall employ best practices and research-based strategies to minimize the need for court action and the risk that a court will issue detention orders against a child or parent.

(b) A school district shall initiate court proceedings to compel a child and the child's parent to comply with the attendance requirements specified in this article but only as a last-resort approach to address the child's truancy and only if a child continues to be habitually truant after school or school district personnel have created and implemented a plan pursuant to section 22-33-107 (3) to improve the child's school attendance.

(c) Before initiating court proceedings to compel compliance with the attendance requirements specified in this article, the school district shall give the child and the child's parent written notice that the school district will initiate proceedings if the child does not comply with the attendance requirements of this article. The school district may combine the notice and summons. If combined, the petition must state the date on which the school district will initiate proceedings, which date must not be less than five days after the date of the notice and summons. The notice must state the provisions of this article with which compliance is required and must state that the school district will not initiate proceedings if the child complies with the identified provisions before the proceedings are filed.

(d) If a school district initiates court proceedings pursuant to this subsection (5), the school district, at a minimum, must submit to the court evidence of:

(I) The child's attendance record prior to and after the point at which the child was identified as habitually truant;

(II) Whether the child was identified as chronically absent and, if so, the strategies the school district used to improve the child's attendance;

(III) The interventions and strategies used to improve the child's attendance before school or school district personnel created the child's plan described in section 22-33-107 (3); and

(IV) The child's plan and the efforts of the child, the child's parent, and school or school district personnel to implement the plan.

(6) The court before which a proceeding to compel attendance is brought may issue, in its discretion, an order against the child or the child's parent or both compelling the child to attend school as provided by this article or compelling the parent to take reasonable steps to assure the child's attendance. The order must require the child and parent to cooperate with the school district in complying with the plan created for the child pursuant to section 22-33-107 (3).

(7)(a) If the child or youth does not comply with the valid court order issued against the child or youth or against both the parent and the child or youth, the court may order that an assessment for neglect as described in section 19-3-102 (1) be conducted as provided in section 19-3-501. In addition, the court may order the child or youth to show cause why he or she should not be held in contempt of court. When instituting contempt of court proceedings pursuant to this subsection (7), the court shall provide all procedural protections mandated in rule 107 of the Colorado rules of civil procedure, or any successor rule, concerning punitive sanctions for contempt.

(a.5) A judge or magistrate of any court may issue a warrant that authorizes the taking into temporary custody of a child or youth who has failed to appear for a court hearing for a truancy or contempt action; except that any such warrant must provide for release of the child or youth from temporary custody on an unsecured personal recognizance bond that is cosigned by the child's or youth's parent or legal guardian or, if the child or youth is in the custody of the department of human services, cosigning may be accomplished by a representative of the department of human services. In the alternative, the warrant may direct that the child or youth must only be arrested while court is in session and that he or she be taken directly to court for an appearance rather than booked into secure confinement.

(b) The court may impose sanctions after a finding of contempt that may include, but need not be limited to, community service to be performed by the child or youth, supervised activities, participation in services for at-risk students, as described by section 22-33-204, and other activities having the goal of ensuring that the child or youth has an opportunity to obtain a quality education.

(c)(I) If the court finds that the child or youth has refused to comply with the plan created for the child or youth pursuant to section 22-33-107 (3), the court may impose on the child or youth, as a sanction for contempt of court, a sentence of detention for no more than forty-eight hours in a juvenile detention facility operated by or under contract with the department of human services pursuant to section 19-2-402 and any rules promulgated by the Colorado supreme court. The court shall not sentence a child or youth to detention as a sanction for contempt of court unless the court finds that detention is in the best interest of the child or youth as well as the public. In making such a finding, the court shall consider the following factors, including that:

(A) The child or youth has violated a valid court order;

(B) National and Colorado-specific evidence shows that detaining children and youth for truancy alone is counterproductive and harmful to children and youth;

(C) The legislative intent is that a child or youth who is truant must not be placed in secure confinement for truancy alone;

(D) Detention is likely to have a detrimental effect on the child's or youth's school attendance; and

(E) Detention is likely to have an effect on the child's or youth's future involvement with the criminal justice system.

(II) There is a rebuttable presumption that a child or youth must receive credit for time served if he or she is sentenced to detention pursuant to subsection (7)(c)(I) of this section for violating a valid court order to attend school. If the court rebuts this presumption, it shall explain its reasoning on the record.

(8) If the parent refuses or neglects to obey the order issued against the parent or against both the parent and the child, the court may order the parent to show cause why he or she should not be held in contempt of court, and, if the parent fails to show cause, the court may impose a fine of up to but not more than twenty-five dollars per day or confine the parent in the county jail until the order is complied with.

22-33-202. Identification of at-risk students.

(1) Each school district shall adopt policies to identify students who are at risk of suspension or expulsion from school. Students identified may include those who are truant, who have been or are likely to be declared habitually truant, or who are likely to be declared habitually disruptive. The school district shall provide students who are identified as at risk of suspension or expulsion with a plan to provide the necessary support services to help them avoid expulsion. The school district shall work with the student's parent or guardian in providing the services and may provide the services through agreements with appropriate local governmental agencies, appropriate state agencies, community-based organizations, and institutions of higher education entered into pursuant to section 22-33-204. The failure of the school district to identify a student for participation in an expulsion-prevention program or the failure of such program to remediate a student's behavior shall not be grounds to prevent school personnel from proceeding with appropriate disciplinary measures or used in any way as a defense in an expulsion proceeding.

(2) Each school district may provide educational services to students who are identified as at risk of suspension or expulsion from school. Any school district that provides educational services to students who are at risk of suspension or expulsion may apply for moneys through the expelled and at-risk student services grant program established in section 22-33-205 to assist in providing such educational services.

REGULATIONS

1 CCR 301-78. Section 1.00. Statement of basis and purpose.

1.00 Statement of Basis and Purpose

This regulation is adopted pursuant to the authority in section 22-33-104 (4)(c), C.R.S. and is intended to be consistent with the requirements of the State Administrative Procedures Act, section 24-4-101 et seq. (the "APA"), C.R.S.

This regulation shall govern the standardized calculation for counting unexcused absences of students, including the circumstance in which a student is absent for part of a school day, and the format for reporting the number of students identified as habitually truant. Many research studies have concluded that truancy is a problem that impacts a student's ability to attain the maximum benefit from the education process. Families, schools and communities must work together to ensure regular daily and punctual school attendance. Students should be advised that each scheduled school day will count in their attendance records. Further, students are required to attend classes, unless excused for good reason, in accordance with the Colorado School Attendance Law (C.R.S. 22-33-101). The purpose of this regulation is to provide specificity for consistency in reporting attendance and truancy data across school districts and BOCES. This regulation intends to increase data accuracy by generating uniform indicators for aggregate excused and unexcused absences and habitually truant student numbers. Another purpose is to allow the usage of these indicators to leverage resources to support the complete success of children and youth in school.

1 CCR 301-78. Section 2.00. Definitions.

2.00 Definitio