June 15, 2026
Mr. Menefee (for himself, Ms. Bynum, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Figures, Ms. Norton, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Ross, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and activities that address chronic absenteeism, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the All in For Attendance Act
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Sec. 2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Students who are chronically absent—meaning they miss 10 percent or more of the school year—are more likely to fall behind academically, which can lead to hardships later in life. These students are nearly four times more likely to not graduate from high school. This leaves them prone to living in poverty, suffering from diminished health, and being involved in the criminal justice system later in life.
(2)
The Research and Development Corporation (RAND) found that around 22 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2024–2025 school year. No State has fully returned to pre-pandemic levels.
(3)
According to the Department of Education, during the 2024–2025 school year, students of color, specifically American Indian, Black, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander students, were disproportionately represented in students who are considered chronically absent. According to research by Stanford University, local immigration raids have dramatically exacerbated chronic absenteeism amongst Latino students, specifically with younger students. These years are critical in education formation and foundation and missing school can further exacerbate learning inequalities.
(4)
The Department of Education has found that chronic absenteeism is widespread, stemming from a wide range of often overlapping internal and external factors. External factors include homelessness, challenges within families, and transportation; while internal factors include health concerns, fear of bullying, concern for safety, and not valuing daily school attendance. Therefore, it is critical to have cross-sector collaborations and multifaceted strategies that incorporate parents (or guardians, as appropriate) and public and community partners.
(5)
According to EdTrust, chronic absenteeism can be improved by investing in professional development for teachers and professionals to help increase relationships amongst students, parents, and their community. Research from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research demonstrates that attendance is higher in schools where students’ relationships with their peers and teachers are stronger and that teachers’ reports of their relationships with parents were also significantly related to absence rates in their school in both middle grades and high schools. Research on Social and Emotional Learning has shown that students who demonstrate improved social and emotional learning skills are less likely to be chronically absent. In addition, early intervention with tiered-approach responses has been shown to reduce chronic absenteeism.
(6)
Research from Stanford University demonstrates that high-impact tutoring can serve as an effective intervention to reduce student absenteeism. A 2025 study found that students were 1.2 percentage points less likely to be absent on days when they were scheduled to receive tutoring, with the strongest effects observed among middle school students and those with a history of chronic absenteeism. The study further found that tutoring programs were most effective at improving attendance when they incorporated evidence-based design features, including small group instruction, frequent sessions, and delivery during the school day.
Sec. 3. Interventions to address chronic absenteeism
(a) In general
Section 4108(5) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118(5)) is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (H)(iii) by striking or
at the end;
(2)
in subparagraph (I), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; or
; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
(J)
interventions for students who miss or are at risk of missing 10 percent or more of school days (as determined at any time during a school year), which may include—
(i)
implementing data collection systems that—
(I)
assist schools in collecting and tracking attendance data;
(II)
include at least one early warning indicator for students that identifies—
(aa)
unexcused absences;
(bb)
excused absences;
(cc)
absences due to sickness;
(dd)
absences due to suspension or expulsion; or
(ee)
absences due to a State emergency; and
(III)
collect, disaggregate, and cross-tabulate data on chronic absenteeism and attendance by—
(aa)
the categories described in section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi);
(bb)
homeless status;
(cc)
whether the student is in foster care; and
(dd)
whether the student has a parent who is a member of the Armed Forces (as defined in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code);
(ii)
creating data-sharing and confidentiality agreements between schools and social services agencies, city and county governments, partner agencies, or community organizations working with students;
(iii)
publishing and maintaining on a publicly available website data on chronic absenteeism and attendance (excluding any personally identifiable information), including publishing such data for each school year;
(iv)
establishing an advisory system to improve family engagement with student attendance that—
(I)
collects input from teachers;
(II)
provides counseling and support, to the extent practicable, for students and their families in their primary language, including by conducting home visits; and
(III)
dedicates a space at school for parents to receive resources pertaining to child education, participate in school activities, and engage with the school community;
(v)
establishing a tiered system of support with targeted engagement and interventions for individual students, small groups of students, and the student body;
(vi)
providing professional development opportunities for educational service centers and state support teams to build the capacity of local educational agencies and schools to reduce chronic absence;
(vii)
partnering with local health and transportation services to target chronic absence intervention efforts;
(viii)
partnering with community organizations that remove barriers to attending school by providing student mentorship, family engagement, and pipeline services (as defined in section 4622);
(ix)
establishing goals and evaluation of outcomes for mentored students;
(x)
planning and carrying out ongoing coordination between mentors and school personnel to identify individual student challenges causing chronic absenteeism in an effort to connect mentees to appropriate intervention efforts;
(xi)
identifying issues that lead to school absences;
(xii)
meeting with students and parents to engage students and improve student performance;
(xiii)
arranging for home visits by teachers to develop relationships among students, parents, and schools;
(xiv)
connecting students to existing school resources and activities, including school counseling services and community-based organizations;
(xv)
using mentors to serve as a bridge between students, parents, and schools;
(xvi)
implementing evidence-based restorative justice strategies aimed at reducing suspensions in order to keep students in school;
(xvii)
implementing evidence-based social and emotional learning strategies and programs aimed at strengthening student relationships with peers and teachers, improving sense of belonging, and cultivating a more inclusive school culture and climate; and
(xviii)
implementing evidence-based high-impact tutoring programs, including high-dosage tutoring, that provide consistent, small-group, or one-on-one academic support to students with the goal of improving student engagement, attendance, and academic outcomes.
(b) Assurance
Section 4106(e)(2)(D) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7116(e)(2)(D)) is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting , including an assurance that the local educational agency, or consortium of local educational agencies, will not implement or carry out policies that include suspensions, fines, or academic penalties for students who have absences;
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