I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1864 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow 

local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and activities that address chronic absenteeism. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

Mr. RYAN of Ohio (for himself and Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use Federal 

funds for programs and activities that address chronic 

absenteeism. 

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 ‘‘Chronic Absenteeism 

5 Reduction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1864 IH

1 (1) Students who are chronically absent— 

2 meaning they miss 10 percent or more of the school 

3 year—are more likely to experience hardships later 

4 in life and 68 percent less likely than their peers to 

5 graduate. 

6 (2) The Department of Education’s Office of 

7 Civil Rights Data Collection found that over 6.8 mil8 lion students were chronically absent during the 

9 2013–2014 school year. This makes up 14 percent 

10 of all students. 

11 (3) Chronically absent students are more likely 

12 to become high school drop outs. This leaves them 

13 prone to living in poverty, suffering from diminished 

14 health, and being involved in the criminal justice 

15 system later in life. Nineteen percent of high school 

16 students are chronically absent. 

17 (4) The Department of Education has found 

18 that, ‘‘Chronic absenteeism is widespread’’ and ‘‘Re19 search suggests the reasons for chronic absenteeism 

20 are as varied as the challenges our students and 

21 families face—including poor health, limited trans22 portation, and a lack of safety—which can be par23 ticularly acute in disadvantaged communities and 

24 areas of poverty.’’. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1864 IH

1 (5) A report by the Everyone Graduates Center 

2 found that chronic absenteeism can stem from a 

3 wide range of often overlapping internal and exter4 nal factors. External factors include homelessness, 

5 family dysfunction, and transportation; while inter6 nal factors include health, fear of bullying, concern 

7 for safety, and not valuing daily school attendance. 

8 Therefore, it is critical to have cross-sector collabo9 rations and multifaceted strategies that incorporate 

10 parents, public-private partnerships, and community 

11 partners. 

12 (6) Students of color are disproportionately 

13 chronically absent compared to their White peers. 

14 Latino students are 11 percent more likely to be 

15 chronically absent, African-American students are 

16 36 percent more likely, and American Indian and 

17 Pacific Islander students are over 65 percent more 

18 likely according to the Department of Education’s 

19 Office of Civil Rights Data Collection. 

20 (7) Studies have shown that mentors can help 

21 reduce chronic absenteeism. Students who regularly 

22 meet with mentors are 52 percent less likely than 

23 their peers to skip a day of school and 37 percent 

24 less likely to skip a class. In one program, previously 

25 chronically absent students in 2012–13 with ‘‘SucVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Apr 08, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1864.IH H1864

lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1864 IH

1 cess Mentors’’ gained 51,562 additional days of 

2 school compared to previously chronically absent stu3 dents without mentors at comparison schools; and 

4 92,277 additional days compared to comparison 

5 school students without mentors during the 3-year 

6 initiative. 

7 (8) A report on the impact of one mentoring 

8 program found that it reduced school absenteeism by 

9 half. In another study, youth showed a gain of more 

10 than a week of class attendance. 

11 (9) Studies estimate that 9.4 million young peo12 ple who are at risk need a mentor. 

13 SEC. 3. INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS CHRONIC ABSENTEE14 ISM. 

15 Section 4108(5) of the Elementary and Secondary 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118(5)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (H)(iii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period 

20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(J) interventions for students who miss 

23 10 percent or more of school days (as deter24 mined at any time during a school year), which 

25 may include— 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1864 IH

1 ‘‘(i) implementing data collection sys2 tems that assist schools in collecting and 

3 tracking attendance data; 

4 ‘‘(ii) creating data-sharing and con5 fidentiality agreements between schools 

6 and partner agencies or community organi7 zations working with students; 

8 ‘‘(iii) partnering with local health, 

9 transportation, and service providers; 

10 ‘‘(iv) integrating school personnel for 

11 mentoring; 

12 ‘‘(v) carrying out mentoring programs 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(I) are structured, managed, 

15 and appropriately match students 

16 with screened and well-trained adult 

17 volunteers for group and one-on-one 

18 mentoring relationships; 

19 ‘‘(II) encourage mentors and stu20 dents to meet frequently; 

21 ‘‘(III) are intended to satisfy a 

22 student’s need for involvement with a 

23 caring and supportive adult who 

24 serves as a positive role model; 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1864 IH

1 ‘‘(IV) emphasize the importance 

2 of regular school attendance; and 

3 ‘‘(V) provide and facilitate the 

4 necessary student support services; 

5 ‘‘(vi) partnering with community orga6 nizations that offer mentoring services that 

7 consist of— 

8 ‘‘(I) screening and training of 

9 adult volunteers; 

10 ‘‘(II) matching children and 

11 youth with the appropriate adult vol12 unteer mentors; 

13 ‘‘(III) support and oversight of 

14 the mentoring relationship; 

15 ‘‘(IV) establishing goals and eval16 uation of outcomes for mentored chil17 dren; and 

18 ‘‘(V) planned and ongoing coordi19 nation between mentors and school 

20 personnel to identify individual stu21 dent challenges causing chronic absen22 teeism in an effort to connect mentees 

23 to appropriate school personnel or re24 sources such as access to transpor25 tation or medical care; 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1864 IH

1 ‘‘(vii) cross-age peer mentoring pro2 grams under which an older youth serves a 

3 mentor for a younger student for the pur4 pose of guiding and supporting the stu5 dent’s academic, social, and emotional de6 velopment; 

7 ‘‘(viii) school reorganization aimed at 

8 improving relationships between students 

9 and staff, including strategies for recog10 nizing and modeling good attendance, such 

11 as mentors greeting students each day and 

12 promptly contacting a parent or mentor if 

13 the student is absent; 

14 ‘‘(ix) identifying issues that lead to 

15 school absences; 

16 ‘‘(x) meeting with students and par17 ents to engage students and improve per18 formance; 

19 ‘‘(xi) arranging for teacher home vis20 its to develop relationships among stu21 dents, parents and schools; 

22 ‘‘(xii) connecting students to existing 

23 school resources and activities, including 

24 school counseling services and existing 

25 community-based organizations; 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1864 IH

1 ‘‘(xiii) using mentors to serve as a 

2 bridge between students, parents, and 

3 schools; 

4 ‘‘(xiv) implementing evidence-based 

5 restorative justice strategies aimed at re6 ducing suspensions in order to keep stu7 dents in school; or 

8 ‘‘(xv) providing personnel training to 

9 build positive school climates and promote 

10 social-emotional learning.’’. 

Æ 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS