On March 10, Texas House Bill (HB) 5507 was introduced to the 89th Legislature Session. If passed, this bill will shift truancy from a civil to criminal offense; increasing the criminal penalty.

Currently, truancy is a civil judicial procedure to encourage attendance and hold students accountable in school. Remedial orders such as community service hours and tutoring orders to attend school are in place.

“We stay busy, our work is driven by our assistant principals that track seven plus absence notifications for students,” Student Engagement Specialist Janie Mote said. “Our campus starts with interventions, they are assigning consequences to create more awareness around the importance of being on time and being in your classes.”

Truancy occurs when a student misses 10 or more days of school in a six-month period. The bill reclassifies truancy as Class C misdemeanor. This means a student could be potentially sent to juvenile detention centers for excessive absences.

“I see some of these potential remedial policies becoming more negative for the student and negative repercussions,” Mote said. “The punitive piece that is going to come along with them being allowed to rule, I think you’ll see a heavier hand in some truancy courts.”

As of March 31, the 2024-2025 school year had a 94.32% average attendance rate and 93.47% the previous school year. During the 2023-2024 school year, there were 176 truancy cases across the district. Though the bill has been introduced, it still sits in Stage 1 of being filed and there has not been any action made in legislation since.

“It’ll be interesting to see not only the changes in Leander, but across the state as well,” Mote said. “Maybe people will take attendance more seriously because of what the judges can possibly order. It will be interesting to see what tweaks will happen to it along the way as it goes through the legislative process.”

*As seen in print