Senate OKs bill to improve attendance for Maine’s youngest schoolkids

Legislation from Sen. Nate Libby, D-Lewiston, which would give Maine schools the tools they need to ensure all students, regardless of their age, receive the education they need and deserve, advanced with a bipartisan, unanimous vote in the Maine Senate on Thursday.

The bill — LD 150, “An Act To Improve Attendance at Public Elementary Schools” — would allow school districts to extend enforcement of truancy rules to 5- and 6-year-old students enrolled in public school, while protecting the rights of parents to choose which school environment, and at what age, is appropriate for their children.

Truancy has harmful effects on a child’s education. Chronic tardiness or absenteeism affects graduation rates, proficiency and academic performance. Maine’s truancy law currently doesn’t apply to students until they are 7 years old, leaving schools with no way to ensure that 5- and 6-year-olds who are enrolled in school are attending classes and building the solid scholastic foundation necessary for later educational success.

“If a student is missing 30 or more days of school each year, the clear, foundational link between early childhood education and success in school is endangered, and in some cases can’t be made up,” said Sen. Libby. “Children that young aren’t choosing to miss school on their own, but they are learning a bad habit that can haunt them for the rest of their time in school, if not through the rest of their lives.

“With LD 150 in place, school districts will be better positioned to get parents and guardians the support and help they need to ensure kids get to school.”

This is the third iteration of Sen. Libby’s bill. In 2015, the bill was opposed by homeschool advocates for inadvertently requiring school enrollment for young students. LD 150 addresses this concern by explicitly stating that the truancy law for 5- and 6-year-olds only applies to those whose parents make the affirmative decision to enroll their children in public school. Under LD 150, parents may also un-enroll their 5- and 6-year-old children from school at any time.

The 2017 bill passed with broad, bipartisan support: unanimous in the Senate and with a 99-45 vote in the House. Unfortunately, the bill was vetoed by then Gov. Paul LePage and the veto was not overridden.

LD 150 now faces further votes in the Maine Senate and House.