An Act To Promote School Attendance and Increase School Achievement
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1503
Committee Amendment CA_A_S287 (Senate)
Amends: 4 MRSA §152, 20-A MRSA §1001, 20-A MRSA §5051-A, 20-A MRSA §5052-A, 20-A MRSA §5103

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503, Bill, "An Act To 
Promote School Attendance and Increase School Achievement" 
Amend the bill by inserting after the enacting clause and before section 1 the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §152, sub-§4, as corrected by RR 2001, c. 2, Pt. A, §2, is 
amended to read: 
4. Exclusive jurisdiction. Original jurisdiction, not concurrent with that of the 
Superior Court, of mental health commitment hearings under Title 34-8, chapter 3, 
subchapter 4, mental retardation certification hearings under Title 34-B, chapter 5, 
habitual tmancy actions under Title 20-A, chapters 119 and 211 under which equitable 
relief may be granted and small claims actions under Title 14, chapter 738;' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 2 and 3 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1001, sub-§8-A is enacted to read: 
8-A. 
Due process standards for expulsion proceedings. 
Following a proper 
investigation of a student's behavior, a school board that intends to consider expulsion 
shall ensure proceedings include the following due process provisions. 
A. Before a hearing on the expulsion, the superintendent shall: 
(1) Provide written notice to the parents or legal guardian and the student of: 
(a) The date, time and location of the hearing; 
(b) A description of the incident or incidents that occasioned the expUlsion 
hearing; 
(c) The student's and parents' or legal guardian's right to review the school 
records prior to the hearing; 
(d) A description of the hearing process; and 
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COMMIITEE AMENDMENT" A "to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
(e) An explanation ofthe consequences of an expulsion: and 
(2) Invite the parents or legal guardian and student to a meeting prior to the 
expulsion hearing to discuss the procedures of the hearing. 
S. At a hearing on the expulsion: 
(1) The student has the right to present and cross-examine witnesses: 
(2) The student has the right to an attorney or other representation: and 
(3) Witnesses must be sworn in and the chair of the hearing has the authority to 
swear in witnesses. 
C. After a hearing on the expulsion, the school board shall provide written notice of 
its decision to the parents or legal guardian and the student by certified mail. The 
notice of the school board's written decision must include a reentry plan developed in 
accordance with subsection 9-C.' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 9 in the last blocked paragraph by striking 
out all of the first underlined sentence (page 2, line 22 in L.D.) 
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 9-C in the first paragraph by inserting at the 
end the following: 'The reentry plan may require the student to take reasonable measures 
detennined by the superintendent to be helpful to establish the student's readiness to 
return to school. Professional services must be provided at the expense of the student and 
the student's parents or legal guardian.' 
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 9-C by inserting after paragraph F the 
following: 
'G. 
The superintendent may, as appropriate, notify an individualized education 
program team for a child with a disability in accordance with subsection 9-B.' 
Amend the bill in section 6 in subsection 15-A in paragraph C in the 2nd line (page 3, 
line 31 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "hand:" the following: 'and' 
Amend the bill in section 6 in subsection 15-A by striking out all of paragraph D 
(page 3, lines 32 and 33 in L.D.) 
Amend the bill in section 6 in subsection 15-A by relettering the paragraphs to read 
consecutively. 
Amend the bill in section 11 in subsection 1 in the first line (page 4, line 23 in L.D.) 
by striking out the following: "20" and inserting the following: 'll.' 
Amend the bill in section 12 in subsection 2 in paragraph B by striking out all of 
subparagraph (1) and inserting the following: 
'( 1) Reached the age of 15 16 years or eOHiflleted the 9th grade of age;' 
Amend the bill in section 12 in subsection 2 in paragraph B by striking out all of 
subparagraph (3) (page 4, lines 36 and 37 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'(3) Been aflflroved by the flriasiflal for a suitable flrogram of work and study or 
traiBiBg;' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
Amend the bill in section 12 in subsection 2 in paragraph B in subparagraph (3-A) in 
the 2nd line (page 5, line 2 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and" 
Amend the bill in section 12 in subsection 2 in paragraph B in subparagraph (4) in the 
2nd line (page 5, line 4 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and" and inserting the 
following: 'and' 
Amend the bill in section 12 in subsection 2 in paragraph B by striking out all of 
subparagraph (5) (page 5, lines 5 to 8 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'(5) Agreed in writing with that person's parent and the school board or its 
designee to meet annually until that person's +7th 18th birthday to review that 
person's educational needs. When the request to be excused from school has been 
denied pursuant to this paragraph, the student's parent may appeal to the 
commissioner; , 
Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 14 and 15 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 14. 20-A MRSA §5051-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 304, §§5 to 7, is 
further amended to read: 
§5051-A. Truancy 
1. Truant. A student is habimally truant if the student is subject to section 5001-A 
and: 
B. Has completed grade 6 and has the equivalent of 10 full days of unexcused 
absences or 7 consecutive school days of unexcused absences during a school year; or 
C. Is at least + 2. years of age and has not completed grade 6 and has the equivalent 
of 7 full days of unexcused absences or 5 consecutive school days of unexcused 
absences during a school year. 
2. Procedures; written notice; referral. This subsection governs the procedure to 
be followed when a student is habitually truant. 
A. If a prinoipal of a p\:lblio sohool aRa the attenaanoe ooordinator aetermine that a 
stuaent is habitlially truant, the prinoipal shall inform the sHperintenaent. 
The 
sHperintenaent or the sliperintenaent's aesignee shall first try to oorreot the problem 
informally. Informal attempts to oorreot the problem mHst inolliae meeting with the 
stuaeat aRa the stuaeat's pareats to iaeatify possible OaHses of the habimal truanoy 
aRa ae¥elop a plaR to implemeat solHtioas to the problem. If aR initial meetiag aoes 
BOt resol'le the problem, the sHperinteaaeat or SHperintenaent's designee shall 
implement interventioas that best address the problem. 
The iBterveBtioas may 
inomae, bm are not limited to: 
(1) fflEtlieat eOll1ilH:l:llioation betvfeea the teaoher aRa the family; 
(2) Changes in the learniag ea'liromnent; 
(3) Mentoring; 
(4) 8hlaeBt oOtlllseling; 
(5) Tlitoriag, inol1:laiag peer hltoring; 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
(6) Placemeet iIlto differeIlt classes; 
(7) E'Iah:latioe for alternative educatioe programs; 
(8) Atteedaece coetracts; 
(9) Referral to other ageecies for family services; aed 
(10) Other ieterveetioes, iecludieg, hat Hot limited to, referral to the school 
atteedaHce coordieator, studeHt assistaHce team or drop oat flreveHtioe committee. 
FailHre of the srudeIlt or the srudeRt's pareets to aJlflear at schedaled meetiegs does 
Rot flreelade the school admieistrators from implemeRtieg a fllaFl to address the 
srudeet's habirual waeey. 
A-I. The principal, upon determining that a student is truant under subsection 1, 
shall notify the superintendent of the student's truancy within 5 school days of the last 
unexcused absence. 
A-2. A student who is determined truant under subsection 1 must be referred to the 
school's student assistance team or the school personnel designated by the 
superintendent in accordance with the school administrative unit's intervention 
system under section 4710 to determine the cause of the truancy and assess the effect 
of the student's absences, as well as any future absences for the student. If it is 
determined that a negative effect exists, the student assistance team or the school 
personnel designated by the superintendent in accordance with the school 
administrative unit's intervention system under section 4710 shall develop an 
intervention plan to address the student's absences and the negative effect of these 
absences. An intervention plan may include, but is 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) Consideration of multiple pathways as described under section 4703; 
(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 or guardian to appear at scheduled 
meetings does not preclude the school administrators from implementing an 
intervention plan to address the student's truancy. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT "It "to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
B. 
As part of correcti:ag the problem informally, the superintendent or 
superintendent's designee shall require the student aHd the student's parents to attend 
one or more meetings ',vith the student's teacher or other school personnel designated 
by the superintendent. The pHi'pose of the meetings is to reinforce the plan developed 
in paragraph ,Ai: 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 representati .. 'es of the Department of HHman 
Services, the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services and the 
Department of Corrections. The superintendent or superintendent's designee shall 
arrange mutually con-veniSHt meeting times. 
B-1. The superintendent shall develop procedures to refer a student who is truant to 
the student assistance team or the school personnel designated by the superintendent 
in accordance with the school administrative unit's intervention system under section 
4710 in accordance with this section. These procedures may include, but are not 
limited to: 
(1) Identifying school personnel responsible for notifying the student assistance 
team or the school personnel designated by the superintendent in accordance with 
the school administrative unit's intervention system when a student is truant; 
(2) A process for referral of a student who is truant, including identifying school 
personnel responsible for inviting the parents or guardian and the student to 
participate in any meeting that results from this referral; 
(3) A timeline for setting up a meeting and developing an intervention plan 
under paragraph A-2; 
(4) A plan for dealing with future absences of a student who is truant; and 
(5) A plan for reporting of the results of the intervention plan developed pursuant 
to paragraph A-2. 
C. If the superintendent or superintendent's designee intervention plan developed 
pursuant to paragraph A-2 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 500t-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 will jeopardize the student's status in the grade that 
the student is in; 
(4) State that the superintendent or the superintendeH.t's designee may notify the 
local law enforcement department ofa violation of this statute section 5053-A 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
and the Department of Health and Human Services of a violation under 
subsection 1, paragraph C; 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 Sti}3eriHtefldeHt's design:ee shall schedule at least one meeting as 
required in paragraph ~ B-1 and may invite a local prosecutor. 
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 SU}3erifltefldeflt's desigflee 
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 to be truant and in violation of section 
5001-A and the student assistance team or the school personnel designated by the 
superintendent in accordance with the school administrative unit's intervention 
system under section 4710 and the superintendent or SU}3erifltefldeHt's designee has 
have made a good faith attempt to meet the requirements of paragraph ~ B-1, the 
superintendent or superiHtefldeHt's design:ee shall notify the school board aHd the loeal 
law enforeemeRt a6}3artmeflt of the student's truancy. After this notificatioR, a local 
law eflforeemeflt officer viflo sees the truant studeHt may traHsport the truaHt studeRt 
to the ap}3fopriate school if the truaflt StudeRt: 
(l) Is off school groUllds dtHiflg school hours; aHd 
(2) Is not under the su}3ervisioR of school }3erSoRflel. 
3. Reports. This subsection applies to reports of habitual truancy. 
A. 
A superintendent shall submit an annual report to the commissioner before 
October 1 st. 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 including the number of 
truants reported to the student assistance team or the school personnel designated 
by the superintendent in accordance with the school administrative unit's 
intervention system under section 4710; 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. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A "to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
Sec. 15. 20-A MRSA §5052-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 143, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
§5052-A. Attendance coordinators 
The following provisions apply to attendance coordinators. 
1. Appointment. The following provisions apply to the electiofl appointment of 
attendance coordinators. 
A. A school aOaTd superintendent shall eleet appoint an attendance coordinator or 
coordinators. 
B. Vacancies shall must be filled as they occur. 
2. Qualifications. An attendance coordinator shall must be a professionally certified 
or registered person in the mental health, social welfare or educational system who is 
qualified to carry out the duties in accordance with rules to be established by the State 
Board of Education. 
3. Duties. The duties of an attendance coordinator include, but are not limited to, the 
following: 
A. Whefl flotified by a priflcipal that a studeflt's attefldaflCe is irregular, interviewiflg 
the studeflt afld the pareflt or paTents or gtlarEiiaa or gHaTdiaas Interviewing a student 
whose attendance is irregular and meeting with the student and the parents or 
guardian to determine the cause of the irregular attendance and .fil.e filing a written 
report with the principal; 
B. 
Filing an annual report with the superintendent summarizing school year 
activities, findings and recommendations regarding truants; 
C. Serving as a member of the dropout prevention committee in accordance with 
section 5103; and 
D. Serving as the liaison between the school and the local law enforcement agency in 
matters pertaining to student absenteeism under sectioBS section 5001-A aad 5051 A. 
4. Department assistance. The department shall provide technical assistance to 
school attendance coordinators for carrying out these duties, through the Office of 
Truancy, Dropout Prevention and Alternative Education.' 
Amend the bill in section 18 in subsection 4 in the 3rd line (page 10, line 33 in L.D.) 
by striking out the following: ", excused or otherwise," 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 19 the following: 
'Sec. 20. 20-A MRSA §5103, sub-§5, ,A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 667, §7, is 
further amended to read: 
A. The dropout prevention committee shall: 
(1) 
Study the problem of dropouts and habinlal truancy and the need for 
alternative education programs, kindergarten to grade 12; 
(2) Make recommendations for addressing the problems; and 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A "to S.P. 473, L.D. 1503 
(3) Submit a plan of action to the school board, in accordance with section 4502, 
subsection 5, paragraph L-l.' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 21 to 25. 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 29. 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment makes the following changes to the bill. 
1. It strikes the definition of "response to intervention team" and all uses of the term 
from the bill and replaces it with references to a student assistance team or the school 
personnel designated by the superintendent in accordance with the system of intervention 
established by the school administrative unit in accordance with the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 20-A, section 4710. 
2. It amends the due process standards proposed for school expulsion proceedings by 
removing the provisions pertaining to a student's right to appeal the decision of the school 
board to the Superior Court within 30 days. 
3. It amends the provision that requires a reentry plan to be developed for a student 
who has been expelled by a school board by providing that: 
A. The reentry plan may require the student to take reasonable measures determined 
by the superintendent to be helpful to establish the student's readiness to return to 
school; 
B. The expelled student's parents or guardian are responsible for the cost of any 
professional services necessary to establish the student's readiness to return to school 
under the reentry plan; and 
C. For a child with a disability who is expelled by a school board, the superintendent 
may, as necessary, provide the reentry plan to the student's individualized education 
program team. 
4. 
It strikes the provision that requires a school board to use suspensions and 
expulsions only as a last resort when taking disciplinary action against a student who has 
violated the school administrative unit's student code of conduct. 
5. It amends the changes to the compulsory school age statutes by reducing the age 
threshold under which a child who has not attained high school graduation or equivalency 
is expected to attend secondary school from 20 to 18 years of age. The amendment also 
makes technical changes to clarify the exceptions to the compulsory school age 
requirements. 
6. It strikes the proposed changes to the truancy laws that would have counted 
excused absences, as well as unexcused absences, towards the number of days of 
absences that would determine when a student is truant. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT "A "to S.P. 473,L.D. 1503 
7. It strikes procedural provisions proposed in the bill and makes technical changes 
to clarify the role of superintendents, principals, attendance coordinators and the student 
assistance team or other systems of intervention established by the school administrative 
unit pertaining to assessing situations of student truancy and developing and 
implementing intervention plans for truant students. 
8. 
It strikes the provisions in the bill pertaining to the qualifications of school 
attendance coordinators and the provisions that propose to establish that the salary costs 
of attendance coordinators are eligible for state subsidy under the Essential Programs and 
Services Funding Act. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/07/11 
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LD 1503 
LR 1629(02) 
An Act To Promote School Attendance and Increase School Achievement 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" S· 2 ~'l 
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
State Mandate - Unfunded 
Requires school boards to ensure that a student who has been expelled is provided 
with a reentry plan. 
U nit Affected 
Local Cost 
School 
Moderate 
statewide 
The required local activities in this bill may represent a State mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. Unless 
General Fund appropriations are provided to fund at least 90% of the additional costs or a Mandate Preamble is 
amended to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt this mandate from the funding 
requirement, municipalities may not be required to implement these changes. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Although the development of reentry plans may currently be a standard practice by many local school administrative 
units for students that are expelled, placing the requirement into Maine law is a state mandate. The additional costs to 
local school administrative units can not be determined at this time. 
LR1629(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1