Nebraska Statutes 79-209. Compulsory attendance; nonattendance; school district; duties; collaborative plan; considerations; referral to county attorney; notice
(1) In all school districts in this state, any superintendent, principal, teacher, or member of the school board who knows of any violation of subsection (2) of section 79-201 shall within three days report such violation to the attendance officer of the school, who shall immediately investigate the case. When of his or her personal knowledge or by report or complaint from any resident of the district, the attendance officer believes that there is a violation of subsection (2) of section 79-201, the attendance officer shall immediately investigate such alleged violation.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 79-209
- Administrator: means any certified employee such as superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, school nurse, or other supervisory or administrative personnel who do not have as a primary duty the instruction of pupils in the public schools. See Nebraska Statutes 79-101
- Attorney: shall mean attorney at law. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Process: shall mean a summons, subpoena, or notice to appear issued out of a court in the course of judicial proceedings. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- School: means a school under the jurisdiction of a school board authorized by Nebraska Statutes 79-101
- School board: means the governing body of any school district. See Nebraska Statutes 79-101
- School year: means (a) for elementary grades other than kindergarten, the time equivalent to at least one thousand thirty-two instructional hours and (b) for high school grades, the time equivalent to at least one thousand eighty instructional hours. See Nebraska Statutes 79-101
- State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Teacher: means any certified employee who is regularly employed for the instruction of pupils in the public schools. See Nebraska Statutes 79-101
(2) All school boards shall have a written policy on attendance developed and annually reviewed in collaboration with the county attorney of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located. The policy shall include a provision indicating how the school district will handle cases in which excessive absences are due to illness. The policy shall also state the circumstances and number of absences or the hourly equivalent upon which the school shall render all services to address barriers to attendance. Such services shall be provided upon twenty days of absence, and shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) Written communication by school officials with the person or persons who have legal or actual charge or control of any child; and
(b) One or more meetings between, at a minimum, a school attendance officer, a school social worker, or a school administrator or his or her designee, the person who has legal or actual charge or control of the child, the person who is responsible for making educational decisions on behalf of the child if that person is someone other than the person who has legal or actual charge or control of the child, and the child, when appropriate, to address the barriers to attendance. The result of the meeting or meetings shall be to develop a collaborative plan to reduce barriers identified to improve regular attendance. The plan shall include, if agreed to by the person who is responsible for making educational decisions on behalf of the child, an educational evaluation to determine whether any intellectual, academic, physical, or social-emotional barriers are contributing factors to the lack of attendance. The plan shall also consider, but not be limited to:
(i) The physical, mental, or behavioral health of the child;
(ii) Educational counseling;
(iii) Referral to community agencies for economic services;
(iv) Family or individual counseling;
(v) Assisting the family in working with other community services; and
(vi) Referral to restorative justice practices or services.
(3) The school may report to the county attorney of the county in which the person resides when the school has documented the efforts it has made as required by subsection (2) of this section that the collaborative plan to reduce barriers identified to improve regular attendance has not been successful and that the child has been absent more than twenty days per school year. The school shall notify the child’s family in writing prior to referring the child to the county attorney. Failure by the school to document the efforts required by subsection (2) of this section is a defense to prosecution under section 79-201 and to adjudication under subdivision (3)(a) or (3)(b) of section 43-247 based upon such absences. Illness that makes attendance impossible or impracticable shall not be the basis for referral to the county attorney.
(4) Nothing in this section shall preclude a county attorney from being involved at any stage in the process to address excessive absenteeism.