House File 2612 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2612 BY MATSON , EHLERT , AMOS JR. , BROWN-POWERS , LEVIN , KURTH , RAMIREZ , MADISON , WILBURN , SRINIVAS , WILSON , B. MEYER , BAGNIEWSKI , WICHTENDAHL , SCHOLTEN , BAETH , JACOBY , GJERDE , and CROKEN A BILL FOR An Act requiring boards of directors of school districts, the 1 authorities in charge of accredited nonpublic schools, and 2 the governing boards of charter schools to adopt policies 3 related to excusing the absences of students enrolled in 4 grades six through twelve for civic or political events. 5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 6 TLSB 6093YH (2) 91 mb/jh

H.F. 2612 Section 1. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, Code 2026, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0w. Be subject to and comply with the 3 requirements of section 299.1, subsection 3A, relating to the 4 adoption of a policy requiring excused absences for student 5 participation in a civic or political event in the same manner 6 as a school district. 7 Sec. 2. Section 256F.4, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended 8 by adding the following new paragraph: 9 NEW PARAGRAPH . v. Be subject to and comply with the 10 requirements of section 299.1, subsection 3A, relating to the 11 adoption of a policy requiring excused absences for student 12 participation in a civic or political event in the same manner 13 as a school district. 14 Sec. 3. Section 299.1, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 15 following new subsection: 16 NEW SUBSECTION . 3A. a. The board of directors of 17 each public school district and the governing body of each 18 accredited nonpublic school shall adopt a policy that requires 19 the school district or accredited nonpublic school to grant a 20 student who is enrolled in grades six through twelve at least 21 one excused absence each school year when the student is absent 22 from school because of the student’s participation in a civic 23 or political event. The policy shall require that the board 24 of directors of the school district or the governing body of 25 the accredited nonpublic school shall not grant the student an 26 excused absence to participate in the civic or political event 27 unless the student gives notice of the student’s intent to 28 participate in the civic or political event to an administrator 29 employed by the board of directors of the school district or 30 the governing body of the accredited nonpublic school at least 31 twenty-four hours in advance of the civic or political event. 32 b. For purposes of this subsection, “civic or political 33 event” includes all of the following: 34 (1) Voting in an election. 35 -1- LSB 6093YH (2) 91 mb/jh 1/ 3

H.F. 2612 (2) Serving as a poll worker. 1 (3) Participating in a strike. 2 (4) Attending a meeting of a federal, state, or local 3 governmental body. 4 (5) Attending a political rally. 5 (6) Attending a political forum. 6 (7) Attending a civic forum. 7 (8) Attending a town hall meeting. 8 Sec. 4. Section 299.1, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code 2026, 9 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 10 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (12) While participating in a civic 11 or political event in accordance with a policy adopted under 12 subsection 3A. 13 Sec. 5. Section 299.12, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 14 2026, is amended to read as follows: 15 a. “Chronically absent” means any absence from school for 16 more than ten percent of the days or hours in the grading 17 period established by a public school; provided, however, 18 that an absence from school that is related to attending a 19 course in religious instruction pursuant to section 299.1D 20 or that is related to participation in a civic or political 21 event in accordance with a policy adopted under section 299.1, 22 subsection 3A, shall not count toward this amount. 23 EXPLANATION 24 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 25 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 26 This bill requires boards of directors of school districts, 27 the authorities in charge of accredited nonpublic schools, 28 and the governing boards of charter schools to adopt policies 29 related to excusing the absences of students enrolled in grades 30 6 through 12 for civic or political events. 31 The bill requires the board of directors of each public 32 school district, the authorities in charge of each accredited 33 nonpublic school, and the governing boards of charter schools 34 to adopt a policy that requires the school district or 35 -2- LSB 6093YH (2) 91 mb/jh 2/ 3

H.F. 2612 accredited nonpublic school to grant a student who is enrolled 1 in grades 6 through 12 at least one excused absence each school 2 year when the student is absent from school because of the 3 student’s participation in a civic or political event. The 4 bill establishes that such policy is to include a requirement 5 that the student give notice of the student’s intent to 6 participate in the civic or political event at least 24 hours 7 in advance of the civic or political event. 8 The bill defines “civic or political event” to include 9 voting in an election, serving as a poll worker, participating 10 in a strike, attending a meeting of a federal, state, or local 11 governmental body, attending a political rally, attending a 12 political forum, attending a civic forum, or attending a town 13 hall meeting. 14 The bill provides that a student’s absence from school that 15 is related to participation in a civic or political event 16 shall not be considered an absence from school for purposes 17 of truancy or the enforcement of standards related to chronic 18 absenteeism. 19 -3- LSB 6093YH (2) 91 mb/jh 3/ 3