An Act Regarding Habitual Truants
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1082
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: CLOUGH
Amends: 20-A MRSA §5053-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1082 
H.P.800 
House of Representatives, March 4,2003 
An Act Regarding Habitual Truants 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative CLOUGH of Scarborough. 
Printed on recycled paper 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
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, §l, is fUlther amended to read: 
C. 
A person whose absence is excused under section 
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505l-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and 2, is repealed.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: 
§505l-A. Habitual truancy 
1. 
Habi tually 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 
shall 
first 
try 
to 
correct 
the 
problem 
informally. 
B. 
As 
part of 
correcting 
the 
problem 
informally, 
the 
superintendent may 
ask the student's parent to attend 
a 
series of meetings with the child's teacher or other school 
personnel designated by the superintendent. 
The purpose of 
the meetings is to describe the education program to the 
parent and explain the value of the child's attending an 
educational program, including, but not limited to, school < 
adult education, a high school equivalency degree program OI 
other 
alternative education 
program. 
The 
superintendent 
shall arrange meeting times convenient to the parent. 
C. 
If the superintendent is unable to correct the truancy 
of the child, the superintendent shall serve or cause to be 
Page l-LRll52(1) 
served upon the parent 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 500l-A: 
( 2) 
Explain 
the 
parent' s 
right 
to 
inspect 
the 
student's attendance records, attendance coordinator's 
reports and principal's report: 
(3) 
Explain that the failure to send the student to 
school and maintain the student in regular attendance 
is a Class E crime in accordance with section 5053-A 
and explain the possible penalties; 
(4) 
State that the superintendent may notify the local 
law 
enforcement 
department 
of 
a 
violation of 
this 
statute; and 
(5) 
Require the parent and the student to attend a 
conference with a designated official. 
D. 
Prior to notifying the local law enforcement department 
under paragraph E, 
the superintendent shall schedule the 
conference required in paragraph C, subparagraph (5). 
E. 
If, within 3 days after receipt of the notice referred 
to in paragraph C, the child remains truant and the parent 
and child refuse to attend the 
conference 
according 
to 
paragraph D, 
the superintendent shall report the facts of 
the 
unlawful 
absence 
to 
the 
local 
law 
enforcement 
department, which may proceed with a criminal action against 
the 
parent 
unless 
the 
child is at 
once 
placed 
in 
an 
appropriate school. 
F. 
When a student is determined habitually truant and in 
violation of section 500l-A and the superintendent has made 
Cl. good-faith attempt to meet the requirements of paragraph 
B, the superintendent may notify the local law enforcement 
department of the child's truancy. 
After this notification, 
a 
local 
law enforcement officer who 
sees 
a 
truant 
may 
transport the truant to the appropriate school if the truant: 
(1) 
Is off school grounds during school hours; and 
(2) 
Is not under the supervision of school personnel. 
3. 
Reports. 
The following provisions apply to reports ot 
habitual truancy. 
A. 
Each superintendent shall submit an annual report to the 
commissioner before October 1st. 
The report must: 
(1) 
Identify the number of habitual truants in 
th~ 
school administrative unit in the preceding school year; 
(2) 
Describe the unit' s efforts to deal with habi tual 
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 MRS A §5053, as amended by PL 1989, c. 415, §§22 
to 25, is repealed. 
Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §5053-A is enacted to read: 
§SOS3-A. Enforcement 
1. 
Class E crime. 
The parent of a child of compulsory 
school age who fails to have the child enrolled in school, who 
fails to send the child to school or who fails to require the 
child to regularly attend school is guilty of a Class 
E crime 
and, upon conviction, is subject to the penalties set forth in 
Title l7-A, section 1301. 
A. 
Evidence that shows that the parent received the notice 
under section 505l-A, subsection 3 and that the child has 
accumulated 10 absences that can not be justified under the 
established 
attendance 
policies 
of 
the 
school 
district 
establishes a prima facie case that the child' s parent is 
responsible for the absences. 
A criminal prosecution may 
not be brought against a parent until after notice has beeg 
provided 
to 
the 
parent 
pursuant 
to 
section 
505l-A, 
subsection 3, paragraphs C to E. 
B. 
Each unlawful absence of a child for 2 full-day school 
sessions or 4 half-day school sessions is a separate offense. 
C. 
It is a defense for a parent charged with violating the 
truancy 
laws 
to 
show 
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. 
2. 
Jurisdiction. 
The District Court has jurisdiction over 
the violations under subsection 1. 
3. 
Process. 
Service of a summons on the parent pursuant to 
subsection 1 
must 
be in accordance with the Maine 
Rules 
of 
Criminal Procedure. 
4. 
Disposition. 
Upon conviction of a parent for a Class E 
crime as defined in subsection 1, the court may order a fine of 
not less than $25 for the first offense and not less than $50 for 
each subsequent offense. 
In default of payment of the fine, the 
parent may be imprisoned for not more than 2 days for the first 
offense and not more than 5 days for each subsequent offense, 
The 
court 
may 
also 
order 
the 
parent 
to 
participate 
in 
a 
parent training class, 
attend school with the child, 
perform 
community 
service 
hours 
at 
the 
school 
or 
participate 
l.n 
counseling or other services as appropriate. 
Sec. 6. 20·A MRSA §6810. as enacted by PL 1981, c. 693, §§5 
and 8, is amended to read: 
§6810. Truancy 
The penalty for truancy is outlined in section §Q§i 5053-A. 
Sec. 7. 
20~A MRSA §7405. sub·§l, as amended by PL 1999, c. 
775, §6, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Enro11ment. 
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 §Q§± 
505l-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. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the habitual truancy laws. 
It requires the 
superintendent to 
send 
a 
notice 
to the parent of 
a 
truant 
informing the parent that the child is truant and the child is 
required by law to attend school. 
The bill also requires the 
superintendent to report the truancy of a child to the local law 
enforcement agency if a parent has not complied with the notice. 
The bill makes it a Class E crime if a parent fails to enroll a 
child in school.