I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9307 

To establish a competitive grant program for reducing the student absence 

rate of certain local educational agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 6, 2024 

Mr. GALLEGO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a competitive grant program for reducing the 

student absence rate of certain local educational agencies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping our Students 

5 in School Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO REDUCE CHRONIC STUDENT 

7 ABSENCE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1 of the 

9 first fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

10 the Secretary of Education shall establish a program to 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 9307 IH

1 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible local edu2 cational agencies for reducing the chronic absence rate of 

3 such eligible local educational agencies by carrying out any 

4 of the activities described in subsection (d). 

5 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 

7 under this section, an eligible local educational agen8 cy shall submit to the Secretary an application in 

9 such form, at such time, and containing such infor10 mation as the Secretary determines appropriate, in11 cluding the contents described in paragraph (2). 

12 (2) CONTENTS.—An application for a grant 

13 under this section shall contain the following: 

14 (A) The chronic absence rate of the eligible 

15 local educational agency. 

16 (B) A description of any programs and re17 sources to reduce the chronic absence rate of 

18 the eligible local educational agency that are in 

19 place at the time such application is submitted. 

20 (C) A plan for how grant funds awarded 

21 under this section to the eligible local edu22 cational agency would be used to reduce the 

23 chronic absence rate of the eligible local edu24 cational agency. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 9307 IH

1 (D) The estimated cost of implementing 

2 the plan described in subparagraph (C). 

3 (E) At least one letter of support explain4 ing why grant funds should be awarded under 

5 this section to the eligible local educational 

6 agency written by— 

7 (i) a local government official that 

8 serves a geographic area that is served by 

9 the eligible local educational agency, in10 cluding a mayor or chief executive officer 

11 of a unit of local government; or 

12 (ii) the head of the eligible local edu13 cational agency. 

14 (c) DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant awarded under 

15 this section shall be for a period of 1 year. The Secretary 

16 may renew a grant awarded under this section to an eligi17 ble local educational agency for 1 or more additional 1- 

18 year grant periods. 

19 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible local edu20 cational agency that receives a grant under this section 

21 shall use the grant funds for 1 or more of the following 

22 activities: 

23 (1) Providing transportation services for stu24 dents traveling to and from schools served by the eli25 gible local educational agency. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 9307 IH

1 (2) Performing visits at places of residence of 

2 a student who was absent for at least 10 percent of 

3 the school days in the most recent school year for 

4 the purpose of evaluating— 

5 (A) the well-being of the student; and 

6 (B) whether the number of school days 

7 missed by the student has resulted in any learn8 ing loss by the student, including identifying 

9 any risk factors present in the lifestyle of the 

10 student that may contribute to learning loss. 

11 (3) Establishing student mentorship programs. 

12 (4) Establishing partnerships with State agen13 cies to reduce the chronic absence rate of the eligible 

14 local educational agency that received the grant. 

15 (5) Acquiring software or other data tools de16 signed to monitor student absence. 

17 (6) Recruiting and retaining specialized instruc18 tional support personnel. 

19 (7) Any other activities related to student ab20 sence that the Secretary determines appropriate. 

21 (e) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date that an eligible local educational agency receives a 

23 grant under this section, the eligible local educational 

24 agency shall provide a report to the Secretary that con25 tains any information reasonably required by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:35 Sep 06, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9307.IH H9307

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 9307 IH

1 retary, which includes a description of how grant funds 

2 awarded under this section to the eligible local educational 

3 agency were used to reduce the chronic absence rate of 

4 the eligible local educational agency. 

5 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) CHRONIC ABSENCE RATE.—The term 

7 ‘‘chronic absence rate’’, used with respect to a local 

8 educational agency, means the quotient resulting 

9 from dividing— 

10 (A) the total number of students served by 

11 such local educational agency who were absent 

12 for at least 10 percent of the school days in the 

13 school year for which the most recent data is 

14 available from the Consolidated State Perform15 ance Report administered by the Office of Ele16 mentary and Secondary Education of the De17 partment of Education, by 

18 (B) the total number of students served by 

19 such local educational agency in such school 

20 year. 

21 (2) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

22 The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means 

23 a local educational agency that has a chronic ab24 sence rate of 0.2 or more. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 9307 IH

1 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; SPECIAL2 IZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL.—The 

3 terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and ‘‘specialized 

4 instructional support personnel’’ have the meanings 

5 given the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary 

6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7801). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB