Senate Bill 405 Summary

• Prohibits suspension or expulsion of students solely for being truant or chronically absent.

• Adds new definitions for "chronically absent" (10% or more of scheduled school days absent) and "truant" (10 or more unexcused absences per school year).

• Expands excused absence reasons for students' sixth or subsequent absence to include illness, medical appointments, religious holidays, family death, court appearances, pre-approved educational opportunities, military service of parent/guardian, and homelessness.

• Requires documentation for excused absences, with medical professional documentation required only for illness-related absences lasting 5 or more consecutive school days.

• Establishes procedures for schools to track and label disciplinary absences separately as short-term (1-5 consecutive days) or long-term (6+ consecutive days) for data collection purposes.