SB 0161

This bill imposes requirements on parents and legal guardians to assist schools in enforcing compulsory school attendance provisions.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; School Attendance; Responsibility. Amend RSA 193 by inserting after section 3-a the following new section:

I. Each parent or legal guardian of a pupil enrolled in a public school has a duty to assist the school in enforcing the standards of pupil conduct and compulsory school attendance in order that education may be conducted in an atmosphere free of disruption and threat to persons or property, and supportive of individual rights.

II. The school board shall provide opportunities for parental and community involvement in every school in the school district.

III.(a) Within one calendar month of the opening of school, each school board shall, simultaneously with any other materials customarily distributed at that time, send to the parent or legal guardian of each enrolled pupil a notice of the requirements of this section, a copy of the school board’s standards of pupil conduct, and a copy of the compulsory school attendance law established in RSA 193:3. These materials shall include a notice to the parent or legal guardian that by signing the statement of receipt, the parent or legal guardian shall not be deemed to waive, but to expressly reserve, their rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States or the state and that a parent or legal guardian shall have the right to express disagreement with a school district’s policies or decisions.

(b) Each parent or legal guardian of a pupil shall sign and return to the school in which the pupil is enrolled a statement acknowledging the receipt of the school board’s standards of pupil conduct, the notice of the requirements of this section, and the compulsory school attendance law. Each school shall maintain records of such signed statements.

IV. The school principal may request the pupil’s parent, if both parents have legal and physical custody of such pupil, or the pupil’s legal guardian, to meet with the principal or a designee to review the school board’s standards of pupil conduct and the parent’s or legal guardian’s responsibility to participate with the school in disciplining the pupil and maintaining order, to ensure the pupil’s compliance with compulsory school attendance law, and to discuss improvement of the child’s behavior, school attendance, and educational progress.

V. The school principal may notify the parent or legal guardian of any pupil who violates a school board policy or the compulsory school attendance requirements when such violation could result in the pupil’s suspension or the filing of a court petition, whether or not the school administration has imposed such disciplinary action or filed a petition. The notice shall state the date and particulars of the violation, the obligation of the parent or legal guardian to take actions to assist the school in improving the pupil’s behavior and ensuring compulsory school attendance compliance, that, if the pupil is suspended, the parent or legal guardian may be required to accompany the pupil to meet with school officials, and that a petition with the may be filed under certain circumstances to declare the pupil a child in need of services.

VI. In addition to the requirements of RSA 193:13, no suspended pupil shall be admitted to the regular school program until such pupil and his or her parent or legal guardian have met with school officials to discuss improvement of the pupil’s behavior, unless the school principal or a designee determines that readmission, without a conference with the parent or legal guardian, is appropriate for the pupil.

VII. Upon the failure of a parent or legal guardian to comply with the provisions of this section, the school board may file legal action to proceed against such parent or legal guardian for willful and unreasonable refusal to participate in efforts to improve the pupil’s behavior or school attendance, as follows:

(a) If the court finds that the parent or legal guardian has willfully and unreasonably failed to meet, pursuant to a request of the principal as set forth in paragraph VI to review the school board’s standards of pupil conduct and the parent’s or legal guardian’s responsibility to assist the school in disciplining the pupil and maintaining order, and to discuss improvement of the child’s behavior and educational progress, it may order the parent or legal guardian to so meet; or

(b) If the court finds that a parent or legal guardian has willfully and unreasonably failed to accompany a suspended pupil to meet with school officials pursuant to paragraph VI, or upon the pupil’s receiving a second suspension or being expelled, it may order the pupil or the pupil’s parent or legal guardian, or both, to participate in such programs or such treatment, including, but not limited to, extended day programs, summer school, other educational programs and counseling, as the court deems appropriate to improve the pupil’s behavior or school attendance. The order may also require participation in a parenting, counseling, or a mentoring program, as appropriate or that the pupil or the pupil’s parent or legal guardian, or both, shall be subject to such conditions and limitations as the court deems appropriate for the supervision, care, and rehabilitation of the pupil or the pupil’s parent or legal guardian. In addition, the court may order the parent or legal guardian to pay a civil penalty not to exceed $500.

VIII. The civil penalties established pursuant to this section shall be enforceable in the appropriate district or superior court.

The Department of Education states this bill may increase local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter. The Judicial Branch states this bill will may increase state general fund expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or county expenditures.

The Department of Education states this bill requires schools to annually send each parent a copy of the school board’s standards of pupil conduct, a copy of the compulsory school attendance law, and a statement for parents or legal guardians to sign attesting to receipt of the policies. The bill also requires schools to maintain files containing the statements signed by parents and guardians. The Department of Education states there may be a minimal cost to local school districts for sending out the required notices in the form of staff time, materials, and storage space. The Department assumes the cost of programs, treatments, and services that might be ordered by a court under the proposed RSA 193-b, VII(b) will be at the expense of a parent or guardian and not an expense of the school district.

The Judicial Branch states this bill establishes RSA 193:3-b, VII under which a school board could sue a parent or legal guardian for refusal to participate in efforts to improve a pupil’s behavior or school attendance. The Branch states it has no information on which to estimate how many such actions will be brought pursuant to this law. The Branch states this type of case will have a cost similar to an average juvenile matter in the district courts. The Branch states that according to judicial and clerical needs assessment studies done by the National Center for State Courts, the average cost for this type of case in FY 2010 and beyond will be $235, not including the cost of any appeals that may be taken following trial in any such case. The Branch further states the proposed RSA 193:3-b, VIII provides that civil penalties imposed in accordance with the proposed RSA 193:3-b, VII can be enforced in the appropriate district or superior court. The Branch has not arrived at a cost for such proceedings; however, they will be more expensive in the superior court than in the district court.