Establishes a task force to study and make recommendations on chronic absenteeism at public schools in the state of New York; establishes reporting requirements.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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11345
IN ASSEMBLY
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:
1 Section 1. Chronic absenteeism; task force. 1. There shall be estab-
2 lished a task force to study chronic absenteeism at public schools in
3 the state of New York.
4 a. The task force shall be comprised of:
5 (i) the commissioner of education;
6 (ii) the commissioner of the office of children and family services;
7 (iii) seven public members, each of whom has specialized knowledge or
8 expertise in issues related to the work of the task force. One of the
9 public members shall be appointed by the governor, two shall be
10 appointed by the speaker of the assembly; two shall be appointed by the
11 temporary president of the senate; one shall be appointed by the minori-
12 ty leader of the assembly; and one shall be appointed by the minority
13 leader of the senate; and
14 (iv) eleven public members appointed by the governor, who shall
15 include: one member at the recommendation of the school boards associ-
16 ation; one member at the recommendation of the council on school super-
17 intendents; one member at the recommendation of the state united teach-
18 ers; four members at the recommendation of the state education
19 department; and four members at the recommendation of the office of
20 children and family services.
21 b. The appointments to the task force shall be made within thirty days
22 of the effective date of this section. Vacancies in the membership of
23 the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original
24 appointments were made. Members of the task force shall serve without
25 compensation but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred
26 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
1 the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task
2 force for its purposes.
3 c. The task force shall organize within thirty days following the
4 appointment of its members. The task force shall choose a chairperson
5 from among its members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who
6 need not be a member of the task force.
7 2. The task force shall:
8 a. analyze the root causes of chronic absenteeism, which may include,
9 but are not limited to, barriers to attendance, aversion to school,
10 disengagement from school, mental health, and school climate;
11 b. analyze the impacts of chronic absenteeism on student well-being
12 and academic performance; and
13 c. develop recommendations on the most effective ways to combat chron-
14 ic absenteeism, which may include, but are not limited to, intervention
15 strategies for schools, student support measures, parental education,
16 and family and community engagement.
17 3. The task force shall issue a report to the governor, the speaker of
18 the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, the minority leader
19 of the assembly, the minority leader of the senate, the chair of the
20 assembly committee on education, the ranking minority member of the
21 assembly committee on education, the chair of the senate committee on
22 education, the ranking minority member of the senate committee on educa-
23 tion, the chair of the assembly committee on children and families, the
24 ranking minority member of the assembly committee on children and fami-
25 lies, the chair of the senate committee on children and families, and
26 the ranking minority member of the senate committee on children and
27 families no later than one year after the organization of the task
28 force. The report shall contain the task force's findings and recommen-
29 dations.
30 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
31 deemed repealed 60 days after the transmission of the report of the
32 findings and recommendations of the task force, as required by subdivi-
33 sion 3 of section one of this act. Provided, however, that the commis-
34 sioner of the state education department shall notify the legislative
35 bill drafting commission upon the transmission of the report of the
36 findings of the task force, as provided in subdivision 3 of section one
37 of this act, in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and
38 timely effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state
39 of New York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44
40 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law.
