The House Education Oversight Committee today passed legislation that would remove chronic absenteeism from the state school accountability system and add an incentive for schools that are going above the state minimum in instructional time with students.

House Bill 1412, by Rep. Ronny Johns, removes chronic absenteeism from being a measure on state school report cards. In its place, it puts a measure of instructional time for schools. Currently, schools are required by law to go at least 165 days and 1080 hours per year. The new instructional time measure would give schools additional points on their report card if they go beyond that, up to 180 days and 1200 hours.

"We can all agree that chronic absenteeism has not been a good measure for accountability of schools," said Johns, R-Ada. "We have worked to find a new measurement that is something within the district's control and can provide an incentive for schools to get students in front of our state's amazing teachers even more."

The bill requires The State Board of Education to amend the state plan in accordance with the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to replace the measure of chronic absenteeism with a measure of instructional time. The State Board of Education must submit the proposed amendment to the United States Department of Education no later than August 1, 2025.

If the amended state plan is approved by the USDE, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the grade for an elementary, middle, and high school site would include a measure of instructional time in lieu of chronic absenteeism. This measure will account for a total of 10 possible points out of 90 points available on a school's report card.

"All the data shows that academic achievement improves when students have more time with high quality teachers," said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert. "This legislation would reward the many districts who are already going above the state minimum on instructional time and incentivize additional schools to stay in school longer, which is a win for students."

The bill also adds scoring Silver Level or above on American College Testing (ACT) WorkKeys and military readiness as evidenced by being accepted for enlistment into any branch of the military within the first year after high school graduation or earning a military readiness score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to the postsecondary measure on state school report cards.

The bill also clarifies that students who transfer in and out of the school, emigrate to another country, and deceased students will not be included in the adjusted cohort graduation rate for school accountability.

The bill passed the House Education Oversight Committee with a vote of 9-0 and will next be considered by the full House on the floor.

-END-