The bill, H.B. No. 213, aims to amend the Education Code to include chronically absent students as a category of students at risk of dropping out of school. Specifically, it adds a new definition for "chronically absent student," which is defined as a student who is absent for more than 10 percent of the minutes of school operation time allocated for instruction within a school year or a six-week reporting period. Additionally, the bill mandates that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools report data on chronically absent students, disaggregated by various demographic factors, including race, ethnicity, and special education status.

Furthermore, the bill modifies existing reporting requirements to include the total number of chronically absent students enrolled at each campus and requires the Texas Education Agency to publicly aggregate and make this data available annually. This data will help identify trends in chronic absenteeism and inform strategies to support at-risk students. The changes will take effect on September 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Education Code 29.081, Education Code 48.009 (Education Code 48, Education Code 29)