Under House Bill 611, when students from kindergarten to grade five miss more than 15 days without an excuse, a process would kick in — requiring school officials to file an educational neglect complaint with the county attorney against a parent or guardian.
Under a newly-added amendment, if the student goes on to miss four days during a diversion program, the issue would go back before a judge.
Rep. Jason Petrie asked colleagues to imagine their own children missing that many days during particularly formative years of their lives.
"Up to 15 days? 19 days? Three weeks? What happens to a child who misses that much school and we start to get them in the court system to do something?" he said. "I'll tell you what happens to them. It gets worse and worse and they'll repeat that grade and I don't know if they'll ever make it to the next grade."
Rep. Adrielle Camuel, who has served in administration in Fayette County Schools, worried the bill takes a one-size-fits-all approach.
"What I feel like we're doing with this bill is we're attempting to legislate a statewide decision for a system that is actually working very effectively in many local regions with their local discretion," she said, before proposing a failed amendment that would soften some language in the bill.
While supporters acknowledge the truancy problem isn't evenly spread across the state, Kentucky education officials have testified that chronic absenteeism is on the rise in many areas. The Herald-Leader reported in 2023 that habitual truancy in Fayette County was at just over 21%.
In Fayette County, any student who has been absent from school or tardy without valid excuse for three days or more, is considered truant. A pupil who has been reported truant two or more times is considered a habitual truant.
