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2020 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - Education
Chapter 6 - Elementary and Secondary Education
Part 30 - Attendance
§ 49-6-3009. Educational Neglect — Progressive Truancy Intervention Plans — Referral to Juvenile Court

Universal Citation: TN Code § 49-6-3009 (2020)
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  1. Any parent, guardian, or other person who has control of a child, and who violates this part commits educational neglect, which is a Class C misdemeanor.
  2. Each day's unlawful absence constitutes a separate offense.
  3. A director of schools or attendance supervisor shall devise and recommend, and the local board of education shall adopt, a progressive truancy intervention plan for students who violate compulsory attendance requirements prior to the filing of a truancy petition or a criminal prosecution for educational neglect. These interventions must be designed to address student conduct related to truancy in the school setting and minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court.
  4. Progressive truancy intervention plans adopted by local boards of education pursuant to subsection (c) must be applied prior to referral to juvenile court as described in § 49-6-3007(e)(1). Progressive truancy intervention plans must meet the following requirements:
    1. Tier one of the progressive truancy intervention plan must include, at a minimum:
      1. A conference with the student and the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student;
      2. A resulting attendance contract to be signed by the student, the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student, and an attendance supervisor or designee. The contract must include:
        1. A specific description of the school's attendance expectations for the student;
        2. The period for which the contract is in effect; and
        3. Penalties for additional absences and alleged school offenses, including additional disciplinary action and potential referral to juvenile court; and
      3. Regularly scheduled follow-up meetings, which may be with the student and the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student to discuss the student's progress;
    2. Tier two must be implemented upon a student's accumulation of additional unexcused absences in violation of the attendance contract required under tier one. Tier two must include an individualized assessment by a school employee of the reasons a student has been absent from school, and if necessary, referral of the child to counseling, community-based services, or other in-school or out-of-school services aimed at addressing the student's attendance problems; and
    3. Tier three must be implemented if the truancy interventions under tier two are unsuccessful. Tier three may consist of one (1) or more of the following:
      1. School-based community services;
      2. Participation in a school-based restorative justice program;
      3. Referral to a school-based teen court; or
      4. Saturday or after school courses designed to improve attendance and behavior.
  5. In-school suspension or out-of-school suspension must not be used as part of the progressive truancy intervention plans adopted by schools for unexcused absence from class or school.
    1. Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g), if any tier of a progressive truancy intervention plan is unsuccessful with a student and the school can document that the student's parent or guardian is unwilling to cooperate in the truancy intervention plan, then the director of schools, or the director's designee, may report the student's absences to the appropriate judge pursuant to subsection (g) without first having to implement subsequent tiers, if any.
    2. For purposes of this subsection (f), evidence of a parent's or guardian's unwillingness to cooperate in the truancy intervention plan includes, but is not limited to, a parent's or guardian's failure or refusal, on multiple occasions, to attend conferences, return telephone calls, attend follow-up meetings, enter into an attendance contract, or actively participate in any of the tiers of intervention outlined in subsection (d) or in the local board of education's progressive truancy intervention plan.
  7. If an LEA has applied a progressive truancy intervention plan that complies with subsection (d) and interventions under the plan have failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance, the director of schools, after written notice to the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student, shall report the student who is unlawfully absent from school to the appropriate judge having juvenile jurisdiction in that county. 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 five (5) hours of community service, in the discretion of the judge, against the parent or legal guardian of the student.
  8. Each referral to juvenile court for conduct described in subsection (g) and § 49-6-3007(h)(4)(D) must be accompanied by a statement from the student's school certifying that:
    1. The school applied the progressive truancy intervention plan adopted under subsection (d) for the student; and
    2. The progressive truancy interventions failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance.
  9. A court shall dismiss a complaint or referral made by an LEA under this section that is not made in compliance with subsection (h).
  10. Notwithstanding any other law, each LEA having previously adopted an effective progressive truancy intervention program that substantially conforms to this section may present the intervention program to the commissioner of education for approval in lieu of strict compliance with this section. If the commissioner does not approve the intervention plan, the LEA shall modify the plan according to the commissioner's recommendations and resubmit the revised plan for approval by the commissioner.
  11. Each head of school of a nonpublic or church-related school shall recommend, and the governing board of the school shall adopt, a policy addressing compulsory attendance and truancy that describes the interventions that the school will employ for violations of the compulsory attendance laws. The policy shall provide that the director of schools or the attendance supervisor in the LEA where the student's home of record is located will be notified in the event that a student at a nonpublic or church-related school is expelled or withdraws from school.
  12. Parents, guardians, or other persons having control of a student who is required to attend remedial instruction under § 49-6-3021 commit educational neglect, as defined in subsection (a), if the student is truant from the instruction.
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