4422635 Final Rulemaking regarding standards and procedures related tocompulsory education, regular attendance, truancy, and studentintervention programs (other than provisions regarding private and home schooling), providing flexibility, and ...
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OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION
NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
The State Superintendent of Education, pursuant to the authority set forth in Article II of An Act to provide for compulsory school attendance, for the taking of a school census in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, as amended, effective February 4, 1925 (43 Stat. 806; D.C. Official Code § 38-201 et seq. (2001 ed. & 2012 Supp.)); as amended by Section 302 of the South Capitol Street Memorial Amendment Act of 2012, effective June 7, 2012 (D.C. Law 19-141, 59 DCR 3083 (April 20, 2012); D.C. Official Code §§ 38-201 et seq. (2012 Repl.); Mayor’s Order No. 2012-116, dated July 26, 2012; Sections 3(b)(11), 3(b)(15) and 7c of the State Education Office Establishment Act of 2000, as amended, effective October 21, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-176; D.C. Official Code §§ 38-2602(b)(11), 2602(b)(15) and 2609(c)(2) (2012 Supp.)); and Section 403 of the State Board of Education Establishment Act of 2007, effective June 12, 2007 (D.C. Law 17-9; D.C. Official Code § 38-2652(a)(14) (2012 Supp.)), hereby gives notice of the adoption of a final Chapter 21, of Subtitle A (Office of the State Superintendent of Education), Title 5 (Education), of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), effective on the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
The rules were published in proposed form in the D.C. Register on January 4, 2013, at 60 DCR 38. After a public comment period, a second (2nd) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the D.C. Register on March 15, 2013, at 60 DCR 3732. Taking into consideration public comments and comments from the State Board of Education at public meetings between February and May, 2013, a third (3rd) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published on May 24, 2013 in the D.C. Register at 60 DCR 7318. No comments were received during the public comment period commencing May 24, 2013 to June 10, 2013.
Section 2103.5 has been revised to reflect the statutory requirements in the South Capitol Memorial Amendment Act of 2012. The State Board of Education approved the rules as final on June 19, 2013. These final rules will be effective upon publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
Further amendments to these rules are likely to occur to conform with the Attendance Accountability Amendment Act of 2013, passed on the second reading by the Council on June 4, 2013 (Enrolled Version of Bill 20-0072), and transmitted to the Mayor on June 13, 2013, upon final adoption and effective date.
Chapter 21 (Compulsory Education and School Attendance at Public Educational Institutions) of Subtitle A (Office of the State Superintendent of Education) of Title 5 (Education) of the DCMR is amended to read as follows:
Chapter 21 COMPULSORY EDUCATION AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
2100 GENERAL PROVISIONS2100.1 The legal authority for this chapter is based upon Article II of An Act to provide for compulsory school attendance, for the taking of a school census in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, as amended, effective February 4, 1925 (43 Stat. 806; D.C. Official Code § 38-201 et seq. (2001 ed. & 2012 Supp.)); as amended by Section 302 of the South Capitol Street Memorial Amendment Act of 2012, effective June 7, 2012 (D.C. Law 19-141, 59 DCR 3083, (April 20, 2012); D.C. Official Code §§ 38-201 et seq.); Mayor’s Order No. 2012-116, dated July 26, 2012; Sections 3(b)(11), 3(b)(15) and 7c of the State Education Office Establishment Act of 2000, as amended, effective October 21, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-176; D.C. Official Code §§ 38-2602(b)(11), 2602(b)(15) and 2609(c)(2) (2012 Supp.)); and Section 403 of the State Board of Education Establishment Act of 2007, effective June 12, 2007 (D.C. Law 17-9; D.C. Official Code §38-2652(a)(14) (2012 Supp.)).
2100.2 This chapter shall apply to a public educational institution as defined in this chapter to include any elementary or secondary educational program operating in the District of Columbia that is subject to the control or oversight of a local educational agency.
2100.3 Unless otherwise approved by OSSE, a school year for attendance purposes shall include a minimum of one hundred eighty (180) regular instructional days and the following requirements:
(a) An instructional day shall be at least six (6) hours in length for students, including time allotted for lunch periods, recess, and class breaks;
(b) The six (6)-hour minimum instructional day requirement shall not be applicable to an evening school program, prekindergarten program, or kindergarten program.
2100.4 Student attendance shall be consistent with the reporting requirements in Section 2101.
2100.5 Daily attendance shall include participation in school-sponsored field trips; participation in an off-site school sponsored or approved activity during a regularly scheduled school day; in-school suspensions; and the number of days a student receives instructional services while expelled or while serving an out-of-school suspension.
2101 ATTENDANCE RECORDS AND REPORTING
2101.1 Each educational institution operating in the District of Columbia shall maintain an accurate, contemporaneous, and daily attendance record for each student who is enrolled in or who attends the educational institution.
2101.2 Records shall be maintained as follows:
(a) The requirement to maintain an attendance record for a student who has completed the enrollment process for an educational institution shall begin on the educational institution’s first (1st) official school day and continue throughout the school year, unless the student officially withdraws from the educational institution; fails to attend at least one (1) day of school in the first three (3) weeks of school without notification for such absence; or transfers to another educational institution; and
(b) Expulsion or suspension of a student during the school year does not relieve the educational institution of the duty to record and report the student’s daily attendance for the school year in which the expulsion or suspension occurred until such time as the student officially withdraws from or enrolls in another educational institution; or such time as the educational institution that, despite best efforts, it is unable to contact the parent or guardian.
2101.3 The attendance record for each student shall contain the following:
(a) Dates of enrollment;
(b) Daily legible or machine-readable records of daily attendance, noting the student as present or absent for a full or partial school day;
(c) Determination of the nature of each absence as excused, unexcused; suspension-related; or expulsion-related;
(d) Dates of withdrawal from the educational institution or confirmed transfer to another educational institution, including the name and location of the educational institution to which the student transferred and follow up notation(s) to confirm the child’s new placement;
(e) Dates of each referral to the school-based student support team, the Child and Family Services Agency (“CFSA”), the Court Social Services Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (“Court Social Services”); or the Office of the Attorney General Juvenile Section (“OAG-Juvenile Section”) related to absenteeism or truancy;
(f) Dates of marking periods;
(g) Dates on which a law enforcement officer enforcing compulsory attendance laws returns the student to the educational institution;
(h) Daily late arrival time, beginning with school year 2015 or at such time that the school is capable of implementing this subsection, whichever is earlier;
(i) Dates and times of early dismissals from the school day, as authorized by the educational institution, beginning with school year 2015 or at such time that the school is capable of implementing this subsection, whichever is earlier;
(j) Dates and brief description of communications with student, parent(s) or guardian(s) with regard to school attendance and absences, including the record of or a cross-reference to the record documenting:
(1) Contact with parents, guardians, or other primary caregivers; and
(2) Interventions, services, and service referrals related to absences other than those listed in subparagraph (d);
(k) Underlying causes for student’s absenteeism or truancy as determined by the school-based student support team;
(l) Action plans and strategies implemented by the school-based student support team to eliminate unexcused absences; and
(m) Services utilized by the student to reduce unexcused absences.
2101.4 Prior to the beginning of each school year, an educational institution shall designate an attendance monitor(s) to be responsible for collecting, maintaining, and reporting the attendance data required for each student consistent federal and District requirements. An attendance monitor shall:
(a) Ensure timely submission of attendance in conformance with this chapter; and
(b) Submit corrected attendance records via an automated, electronic feed, or such other format.; and provide any corrections to attendance records within fifteen (15) business days of submission; and
(c) Timely respond to requests for clarification of submitted attendance records.
2101.5 The name and contact information of the designated attendance monitor shall be reported by the educational institution prior to the first (1st) official school day of each school year.
2101.6 Within sixty (60) days after the completion of each school year, an educational institution shall submit to OSSE the report described in D.C. Official Code § 38-203(i). Such report shall include attendance information in aggregate form, excluding individual student data.
2101.7 Prior to the beginning of each school year, OSSE shall issue a report including the following information:
(a) Truancy rates for each educational institution;
(b) Progress in improving attendance and reducing truancy for each educational institution; and
(c) Each educational institution’s compliance with key attendance and truancy requirements.
2101.8 An educational institution shall maintain attendance records as part of the student’s permanent record and for such periods of time as may be otherwise specified by applicable laws and regulations.
2101.9 Within two (2) business days after each occurrence of a student’s tenth (10th) unexcused absence during a school year, the educational institution shall:
(a) Notify the Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) within two (2) business days after each occurrence of a student’s tenth (10th) unexcused absence during the school year;
(b) Send the student’s parent a letter, under signature of the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, notifying the parent that he or she may be in violation of the school attendance requirements and subject to prosecution under District of Columbia laws; and
(c) Notify OSSE of the student’s ten (10) days of the unexcused absence.
2101.10 Upon notification from the educational institution under § 2101.8, OSSE shall provide the parent with a copy of the Truancy Prevention Resource Guide published by OSSE.
2102 ABSENCES
2102.1 Any absence, including an absence from any portion of the instructional day, without a valid excuse shall be presumed to be an unexcused absence.
2102.2 An educational institution shall define categories of valid excuses for an absence, which shall include the following categories:
(a) Illness or other bona fide medical cause experienced by the student;
(b) Exclusion, by direction of the authorities of the District of Columbia, due to quarantine, contagious disease, infection, infestation, or other condition requiring separation from other students for medical or health reasons;
(c) Death in the student’s family;
(d) Necessity for a student to attend judiciary or administrative proceedings as a party to the action or under subpoena;
(e) Observance of a religious holiday;
(f) Lawful suspension or exclusion from school by school authorities;
(g) Temporary closing of facilities or suspension of classes due to severe weather, official activities, holidays, malfunctioning equipment, unsafe or unsanitary conditions, or other condition(s) or emergency requiring a school closing or suspension of classes;
(h) Failure of the District of Columbia to provide transportation in cases where the District of Columbia has a legal responsibility for the transportation of the student;
(i) Medical or dental appointments for the student;
(j) Absences to allow students to visit their parent or a legal guardian, who is in the military; immediately before, during, or after deployment; and
(k) An emergency or other circumstances approved by an educational institution.
2102.3 An educational institution shall publish and make available to parents and students the attendance policies and procedures, including a list of valid excused absences.
2102.4 An educational institution shall obtain an explanation from the student’s parent or guardian verifying the reason for an absence.
2103 ABSENTEE INTERVENTION AND SCHOOL-BASED STUDENT SUPPORT TEAMS
2103.1 An educational institution shall implement a specific protocol for absenteeism (absenteeism protocol) including a focus on prevention of unexcused absences, also referred to as truancy, and academic and behavioral interventions to address the needs of students.
2103.2 Each LEA shall incorporate evidence-based practice into its absenteeism protocol, considering procedures to address the following:
(a) A description of valid excused absences consistent with this chapter;
(b) A process for informing, training, and educating school staff, students, parents, guardians, and the community with regard to enhancing school attendance, implementing truancy reduction methods, administering attendance policies and procedures, and related collaborative services; and
(c) Procedures for monitoring, reporting, addressing, and evaluating attendance and absences consistent with District of Columbia attendance and absence reporting requirements including:
(1) A procedure requiring reasonable and diligent attempts to make personal contact with the parent or guardian of a student, on the same day and each time a student has the equivalent of one (1) day of unexcused absence, with daily follow-ups as necessary;
(2) A continuum of school practices and services including meaningful supports, incentives, intervention strategies, and consequences for dealing with absenteeism and consultation with parents or guardians, both at the onset of absenteeism and in those circumstances where chronic absenteeism persists, which continuum shall not include off-site suspension and/or expulsion as intervention strategies;
(3) A referral process whereby within two (2) school days after a student has accumulated five (5) or more unexcused absences in one (1) marking period or other similar time frame, the student shall be referred to a school-based student support team which will meet within five (5) school days of the referral and regularly thereafter to:
(A) Review and address the student’s attendance and determine the underlying cause(s) for the student’s unexcused absences;
(B) Employ reasonable and diligent efforts to communicate and to collaborate with the student and parents or guardian;
(C) Communicate and collaborate with the student’s existing Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, as applicable;
(C) Provide timely response to the student’s truant behavior;
(D) Make recommendations for academic, diagnostic, or social work services;
(E) Use school and community resources to abate the student’s truancy including referral to a community-based organization when available; and
(F) Develop and implement an action plan in consultation with the student and student’s parents or guardian;
(4) A student who accumulates ten (10) unexcused absences at any time during a school year shall be considered to be chronically truant. The school-based student support team assigned to the student shall notify the school administrator within two (2) school days after the tenth (10th) unexcused absence with a plan for immediate intervention including delivery of community-based programs and any other assistance or services to identify and address the student’s needs on an emergency basis;
(5) A process including specific due process procedures, for a parent, guardian, or student to appeal any attendance violation decisions made by the educational institution; and
(6) A process to ensure that the LEA maintains complete, accurate, and contemporaneous records of the work of the school-based student support team to reduce unexcused absences, including records of all meetings that take place after a student accumulates five (5) or more unexcused absences in one (1) marking period or other similar time frame and after a student accumulates ten (10) unexcused absences at any time during a school year.
2103.3 In addition to the report required at the end of each school year pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 38-203(i), an educational institution shall provide, upon request, student-level data and records evidencing the work of school-based student support teams.
2103.4 A school-based student support team shall be guided by the following principles:
(a) Prior to performing school-based student support team functions, appointed team members shall be provided training on the compulsory attendance laws, regulations, and policies of the District of Columbia and OSSE; absenteeism and truancy intervention strategies and best practices; and available remedies and services to ameliorate the causes of absenteeism and truancy;
(b) A school-based student support team shall include the educational institution’s designated attendance monitor;
(c) Core school-based student support team membership should typically include a :
(1) General education teacher;
(2) School nurse, psychologist, counselor, and/or social worker, if applicable; and
(3) School administrator with decision-making authority.
(d) Selection of additional members of a team should be guided by the needs of the particular student, which may include the following:
(1) IDEA/Section 504 coordinator and/or special education personnel;
(2) Early learning/Head Start teacher;
(3) Bilingual or English as a second language teacher;
(4) Representatives of CFSA and/or Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS);
(5) McKinney-Vento homeless liaison; and/or
(6) Guardian ad litem.
2103. 5 Each educational institution shall develop a process to refer students to District of Columbia entities under the following circumstances:
(a) Students ages five (5) through thirteen (13) shall be referred by the LEA to the Child and Family Services Agency not later than two (2) school days after:
(1) The accrual of ten (10) unexcused absences within one (1) school year;
(2) Completion of the procedures specified in section 2103.2 of this chapter; or
(3) Immediately at any time that educational neglect is suspected; and
(b) During the 2013-14 school year, students age fourteen (14) and over shall be referred by the LEA to the Court Social Services Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and to the Office of Attorney General Juvenile Section not later than two (2) school days after the accrual of twenty-five (25) unexcused absences at any time within one (1) school year. Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, such referral shall be made after the accrual of twenty (20) or more unexcused absences.
2103.6 Copies of the following documents shall be provided with a referral made pursuant to this chapter:
(a) The student’s attendance and absence record;
(b) Any prevention and intervention plans;
(c) Documentation related to referrals and outcome of such referrals;
(d) Documentation representing evidence of communications, services, and attendance related interventions taken by the school;
(e) Documentation of suspected educational neglect;
(f) Documentation of personal contacts with, and written notification to, parents or guardians with regard to the unexcused absences; and
(g) If applicable, the student’s Individualized Education Program pursuant to IDEA or Section 504 services plan, with any supporting evaluations or assessments.
2199 DEFINITIONS
“Absence” --A full or partial school day on which the student is not physically in attendance at scheduled periods of actual instruction at the educational institution in which s/he was enrolled or attended, and is not in attendance at a school-approved activity that constitutes part of the approved school program.
“Absenteeism” -- A pattern of not attending school, including the total number of school days within one school year on which a student is marked with an excused or unexcused absence.
“Action plan” --A written document that is designed to meet the individual and specialized needs of the student and contains the relevant details of the student’s attendance record, the school-based or third-party-provided interventions toward addressing the underlying causes of truancy as determined by the school-based student support team, and expected attendance goals.
“Attendance monitor” --The person(s) designated by the principal or chief school administrator of an educational institution to be responsible for collecting, maintaining, and reporting attendance records that are required pursuant to District of Columbia compulsory education and school attendance laws, regulations, and OSSE policies for each student enrolled in the educational institution.
“Chronic Absenteeism” --The accumulation within one (1) school year of ten (10) or more school days on which a student is marked absent, including excused and unexcused absences.
“Chronically Truant” -- A school aged child who is absent from school without a legitimate excuse for ten (10) or more days within a single school year.
“Consultation” --A meeting or conversation between the school-based student support team of an educational institution and a student’s parents or guardians in which the team, on the part of the educational institution, engages in meaningful discussions about the issues underlying the student’s absenteeism prior to making any decision about action plans, interventions, or services to address the student’s absenteeism.
“Educational institution” –Any elementary or secondary educational program operating in the District of Columbia that is subject to the control or oversight of a local educational agency.
“Educational neglect” --The failure of a parent or guardian to ensure that a child attends school consistent with the requirements of the law including, without limitation, the failure to enroll a school-age child in an educational institution or provide appropriate private instruction; permitting chronic absenteeism from school; inattention to special education needs; refusal to allow or failure to obtain recommended remedial education services; or the failure to obtain treatment or other special education services without reasonable cause.
“Elementary/secondary educational program” --A course of instruction and study from and including pre-Kindergarten through the end of high school, any portion thereof, or its equivalent.
“Enrollment” --A process through which a student obtains admission to a public or public charter school that includes, at a minimum the following stages:
(1) Application by student to attend the school;
(2) Acceptance and notification of an available slot to the student by the school;
(3) Acceptance of the offered slot by the student (signified by completion of enrollment forms and parent signature on a “letter of enrollment agreement form”;
(4) Registration of the student in the Student Information System (SIS) by school upon receipt of required enrollment forms and letter of enrollment agreement; and
(5) Receipt of educational services, which are deemed to begin on the first official school day.
(6) The LEA’s obligation to determine eligibility for special education services or to provide special education services on an existing IEP is triggered upon completion of registration (stage 4).
“IDEA” --The “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act”, approved April 13, 1970 (84 Stat. 191; 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq.), as amended by Pub. L. 108-446, approved December 3, 2004 (118 Stat. 2647).
“Full school day” --The entirety of the instructional hours regularly provided on a single school day.
“Late arrival” --Arrival by a student at the educational institution after the official start of the school day as defined by the educational institution. Late arrival does not include any period of time that would constitute a partial school day as defined by this chapter.
“LEA” --Local Educational Agency, pursuant to 20 USCS § 7801(26)(A), a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties that is recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or secondary schools.
“Marking period” --A portion of a school year between two dates, at the conclusion of which period students are graded or marked.
“McKinney-Vento” --The “McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987”, as amended, Title VII, Subtitle B; 42 U.S.C. 11431-11435.
“OSSE” --The Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
“Partial school day” --At least twenty percent (20%) of the instructional hours regularly provided on a single school day; which shall be deemed to be a full school day, when a student is absent during this period of time without an excused absence.
“Parent” --A biological parent, guardian or other person who resides in the District of Columbia who has custody or control of a school–age child as defined in this chapter.
“Present” --A single school day on which the student is physically in attendance at scheduled periods of actual instruction at the educational institution in which she or he was enrolled and registered for at least eighty percent (80%) of the full instructional day, or in attendance at a school-approved activity that constitutes part of the approved school program for that student.
“School-age child” --A child who between five (5) years of age on or before September 30 of the current school year or eighteen (18) years.
“Section 504” --Section 504 of the “Rehabilitation Act of 1973”, approved September 26, 1973 (87 Stat. 394; 29 U.S.C. § 794).
“STEM” --Educational instruction in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“Truant” --A school-age child who is absent from school without a legitimate excuse for absence.
“Truancy rate” --The incidence of students who are absent without valid excuse as defined by 5 DCMR A § 2102 on ten (10) or more occasions within a single school year, divided by the total number of students enrolled for a single school year, as determined by the final enrollment audit conducted by OSSE, pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 38-203. Truancy rate may be calculated and reported at the school, LEA, and state levels.
