Assembly Bill A11345

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   11345
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 12, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON  RULES  -- (at request of M. of A. Hevesi,
   Benedetto) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT establishing a task force to study and  make  recommendations  on
   chronic  absenteeism  at  public schools in the state of New York; and
   providing for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration there-
   of

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Chronic absenteeism; task force. 1. There shall be estab-
 lished a task force to study chronic absenteeism at  public  schools  in
 the state of New York.
   a. The task force shall be comprised of:
   (i) the commissioner of education;
   (ii) the commissioner of the office of children and family services;
   (iii)  seven public members, each of whom has specialized knowledge or
 expertise in issues related to the work of the task force.  One  of  the
 public  members  shall  be  appointed  by  the  governor,  two  shall be
 appointed by the speaker of the assembly; two shall be appointed by  the
 temporary president of the senate; one shall be appointed by the minori-
 ty  leader  of  the assembly; and one shall be appointed by the minority
 leader of the senate; and
   (iv) eleven public  members  appointed  by  the  governor,  who  shall
 include:   one member at the recommendation of the school boards associ-
 ation; one member at the recommendation of the council on school  super-
 intendents;  one member at the recommendation of the state united teach-
 ers;  four  members  at  the  recommendation  of  the  state   education
 department;  and  four  members  at  the recommendation of the office of
 children and family services.
   b. The appointments to the task force shall be made within thirty days
 of the effective date of this section. Vacancies in  the  membership  of
 the  task  force  shall  be  filled  in  the same manner as the original
 appointments were made. Members of the task force  shall  serve  without
 compensation but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred
 in  the  performance of their duties as members of the task force within
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD15819-01-6
 A. 11345                            2
 
 the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task
 force for its purposes.
   c.  The  task  force  shall  organize within thirty days following the
 appointment of its members. The task force shall  choose  a  chairperson
 from  among  its  members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who
 need not be a member of the task force.
   2. The task force shall:
   a. analyze the root causes of chronic absenteeism, which may  include,
 but  are  not  limited  to,  barriers to attendance, aversion to school,
 disengagement from school, mental health, and school climate;
   b. analyze the impacts of chronic absenteeism  on  student  well-being
 and academic performance; and
   c. develop recommendations on the most effective ways to combat chron-
 ic  absenteeism, which may include, but are not limited to, intervention
 strategies for schools, student support  measures,  parental  education,
 and family and community engagement.
   3. The task force shall issue a report to the governor, the speaker of
 the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, the minority leader
 of  the  assembly,  the  minority leader of the senate, the chair of the
 assembly committee on education, the  ranking  minority  member  of  the
 assembly  committee  on  education, the chair of the senate committee on
 education, the ranking minority member of the senate committee on educa-
 tion, the chair of the assembly committee on children and families,  the
 ranking  minority member of the assembly committee on children and fami-
 lies, the chair of the senate committee on children  and  families,  and
 the  ranking  minority  member  of  the senate committee on children and
 families no later than one year  after  the  organization  of  the  task
 force.  The report shall contain the task force's findings and recommen-
 dations.
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
 deemed repealed 60 days after the transmission  of  the  report  of  the
 findings  and recommendations of the task force, as required by subdivi-
 sion 3 of section one of this act.  Provided, however, that the  commis-
 sioner  of  the  state education department shall notify the legislative
 bill drafting commission upon the transmission  of  the  report  of  the
 findings  of the task force, as provided in subdivision 3 of section one
 of this act, in order that the commission may maintain an  accurate  and
 timely effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state
 of  New York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44
 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law.