A proposed bill could send chronically absent students to juvenile detention, or have them be investigated, for missing school.

Why it matters: The Rhode Island Department of Education is cracking down on chronic absence from school with a media campaign urging kids to attend school, and regular shoutouts to schools with the highest attendance rates by Governor Dan McKee.

But state law doesn’t currently define what it means to be chronically absent.

Bill breakdown

The Attendance for Success Act would add those definitions to existing state law, including:

It would also:

• Add requirements for tracking attendance and creating attendance improvement plans.

• Provide guidance on what to do when a student isn’t coming to school, and intervention isn’t working.

The bill directs schools to start with notifying parents, scheduling meeting and using nonpunitive measures.

If that fails, the district “shall report the excessively absent student to its truant officer for an investigation as to whether the student should be considered to be a wayward child” or needing family services.

What is a ‘wayward’ child? State law allows them to be detained.

Under state law, “wayward” may apply to a variety of children:

Wayward children may be sent to the Rhode Island Training School, a juvenile correctional facility, until they turn 19.

The Providence Journal has reached out to RIDE for comment on the potential consequences of its bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Joseph McNamara and seven other lawmakers. It will be considered by the House Education Committee Wednesday night.

How widespread is chronic absenteeism this year?

According to the latest data from RIDE, 28,653 students have been marked chronically absent for the 2023-2024 school year.

That’s 20% of public school students, though most of them were also chronically absent last year, showing that missing school becomes a habit.

Providence has the highest chronic absenteeism rate by far, followed by Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Warwick and Cranston, all of which are far lower in chronic absences compared to the capital city.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: New bill would send kids who miss too much school to juvenile detention