CHAPTER 533
H.P. 800 - L.D. 1082
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §5001-A, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 1985, c. 123, §1, is further amended to read:
C. A person whose absence is excused under section 5051. The parent of an habitual truant who has been denied a waiver of this paragraph, may appeal to the commissioner in accordance with section 5051, subsection 2, paragraph E 5051-A; or
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §5051, as amended by PL 1999, c. 198, §§1 and 2, is repealed.
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §5051-A is enacted to read:
1. Habitually truant. A student is habitually truant if the student:
A. Is subject to section 5001-A; and
B. Has the equivalent of 10 full days of unexcused absences or 7 consecutive school days of unexcused absences during a school year.
2. Procedures. This subsection governs the procedure to be followed when a student is habitually truant.
A. If a principal of a public school and the attendance coordinator determine that a student is habitually truant, the principal shall inform the superintendent. The superintendent or the superintendent's designee shall first try to correct the problem informally. Informal attempts to correct the problem must include meeting with the student and the student's parents to identify possible causes of the habitual truancy and develop a plan to implement solutions to the problem. If an initial meeting does not resolve the problem, the superintendent or superintendent's designee shall implement interventions that best address the problem. The interventions may include, but are not limited to:
(1) Frequent communication between the teacher and the family;
(2) Changes in the learning environment;
(3) Mentoring;
(4) Student counseling;
(5) Tutoring, including peer tutoring;
(6) Placement into different classes;
(7) Evaluation for alternative education programs;
(8) Attendance contracts;
(9) Referral to other agencies for family services; and
(10) Other interventions, including, but not limited to, referral to the school attendance coordinator, student assistance team or dropout prevention committee.
Failure of the student or the student's parents to appear at scheduled meetings does not preclude the school administrators from implementing a plan to address the student's habitual truancy.
B. As part of correcting the problem informally, the superintendent or superintendent's designee shall require the student and the student's parents to attend one or more meetings with the student's teacher or other school personnel designated by the superintendent. The purpose of the meetings is to reinforce the plan developed in paragraph A or to develop an alternative plan. The meeting or meetings may involve the presence of others, including, but not limited to, case managers, therapeutic treatment providers and representatives of the Department of Human Services, the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services and the Department of Corrections. The superintendent or superintendent's designee shall arrange mutually convenient meeting times.
C. If the superintendent or superintendent's designee is unable to correct the truancy of the child, the superintendent or superintendent's designee shall serve or cause to be served upon the parent in hand or by registered mail a written notice that attendance of the child at school is required by law. The notice must:
(1) State that the student is required to attend school pursuant to section 5001-A;
(2) Explain the parent's right to inspect the student's attendance records, attendance coordinator's reports and principal's reports;
(3) Explain that the failure to send the student to school and maintain the student in regular attendance is a civil violation in accordance with section 5053-A and explain the possible penalties;
(4) State that the superintendent or the superintendent's designee may notify the local law enforcement department of a violation of this statute; and
(5) Outline the plan developed to address the student's habitual truancy and the steps that have been taken to implement that plan.
D. Prior to notifying the local law enforcement department under paragraph E, the superintendent or superintendent's designee shall schedule at least one meeting as required in paragraph B.
E. If, after 3 school days after service of the notice referred to in paragraph C, the student remains truant and the parent and student refuse to attend the meeting scheduled according to paragraph D, the superintendent or superintendent's designee shall report the facts of the unlawful absence to the local law enforcement department, which may proceed with an action to enforce section 5053-A against the parent unless the student is at once placed in an appropriate school or otherwise meets the requirements under section 5001-A.
F. When a student is determined habitually truant and in violation of section 5001-A and the superintendent or superintendent's designee has made a good faith attempt to meet the requirements of paragraph B, the superintendent or superintendent's designee shall notify the school board and the local law enforcement department of the student's truancy. After this notification, a local law enforcement officer who sees the truant student may transport the truant student to the appropriate school if the truant student:
(1) Is off school grounds during school hours; and
(2) Is not under the supervision of school personnel.
3. Reports. This subsection applies to reports of habitual truancy.
A. A superintendent shall submit an annual report to the commissioner before October 1st. The report must:
(1) Identify the number of habitual truants in the school administrative unit in the preceding school year;
(2) Describe the unit's efforts to deal with habitual truancy;
(3) Account for actions brought under this section; and
(4) Include any other information on truancy requested by the commissioner.
B. The commissioner shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature before January 15th. The report must aggregate the information provided by superintendents under paragraph A and must evaluate the effect of state laws on the incidence of truancy.
Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §5053, as amended by PL 1989, c. 415, §§22 to 25, is repealed.
Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §5053-A is enacted to read:
1. Civil violation. If a parent has control of a student who is habitually truant and that parent is primarily responsible for that truancy, that parent commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $25 may be adjudged.
2. Dispositions. The court may also order a parent adjudicated as violating subsection 1 to take specific action to ensure the child's attendance at school; comply with the plan developed in accordance with section 5051-A, subsection 2, paragraph A; participate in a parent-training class; attend school with the child; perform community service hours at the school; or participate in counseling or other services as appropriate.
3. Notice required. Notice must be provided to the parent pursuant to section 5051-A, subsection 2, paragraph C before a prosecution for violating subsection 1 may be brought against the parent.
4. Prima facie proof. Evidence that shows that the parent received the notice under section 5051-A, subsection 2 and that the child has accumulated 10 absences that are not justified under the established attendance policies of the school administrative unit is prima facie proof that the child's parent failed to enroll the child in school, failed to send the child to school or failed to require the child to regularly attend school.
5. Defense. It is a defense to a prosecution under subsection 1 that the parent has exercised reasonable diligence in attempting to cause a child in the parent's custody to attend school or that the administrators of the child's school did not perform their duties as required by law.
6. Process. Service of a summons on the parent pursuant to subsection 1 must be in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.
7. Jurisdiction. The District Court has jurisdiction over violations under subsection 1.
Sec. 6. 20-A MRSA §6810, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 693, §§5 and 8, is amended to read:
The penalty for truancy is outlined in section 5053 5053-A.
Sec. 7. 20-A MRSA §7405, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1999, c. 775, §6, is further amended to read:
1. Enrollment. The superintendent of the school administrative unit in which a deaf or hard-of-hearing student resides, with the consent of that student's parent or legal guardian and in accordance with the limitations in section 5051 5051-A, may enroll that student in one of the center school programs or the satellite school programs. The sums necessary for tuition and room and board of the student while attending one of the center school programs or satellite school programs, as determined by the individualized education program of the student, must be paid by the school board.
Effective July 30, 2004, unless otherwise indicated.
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