Maryland lawmakers are pushing several proposals to address the large percentage of children missing significant amounts of school each year.

One bill with 19 sponsors — led by Democratic Del. Stephanie Smith of Baltimore City — would establish a task force to study the issue. The bill has passed the House and has been referred to a Senate committee. It’s among several other bills addressing “chronic absenteeism,” which is defined as missing at least 10% of enrolled school days or 18 days of an entire school year.

Absenteeism skyrocketed in Maryland during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching as high as 58% in Baltimore City, then declining most recently to 49%.

Chronic absenteeism is briefly addressed in Gov. Wes Moore’s much-debated “Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act,” which proposes to alter the state’s landmark education reform legislation, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The House has passed a version of the bill, while a Senate committee recently passed a different version. The bill would include “improving student attendance and chronic absenteeism” under its definition of “wraparound services.”

The Moore-Miller administration “is well aware that this is a multifaceted problem and no single solution will address this overnight,” said Moore’s press secretary, Carter Elliott, in an email. He added, “Governor Moore will continue to work with the general assembly, local leaders, and community advocates to increase attendance and graduation rates by utilizing multi-tiered systems of support to address the reasons that students do not come to school, improve school climate, and address instructional needs.”

Another bill that has advanced to the opposite chamber would require the Maryland Judiciary to provide a report on Truancy Reduction Pilot Programs. The first of these was established by the General Assembly in Wicomico County in 2004. The program, now known as the Truancy Reduction Court Program, involves assigning a court-appointed case manager to determine why a student isn’t attending school and help connect them to services.

“We really haven’t done a deep dive and analysis into the success of these programs since 2008 and a lot has changed, the biggest of which is COVID,” said the bill’s sponsor, Democratic Del. Mark Edelson of Baltimore City.

The bill also would require the judiciary to recommend whether a similar program should be implemented in Baltimore City.

Democratic Del. Deni Taveras of Prince George’s County hopes that Smith’s bill will include a proposal of hers that died in the House. The proposal would have required each local board of education to investigate “the root causes of chronic absenteeism and expulsion.” The investigation would include a survey of a student’s domestic situation, family vacations, history of alcohol or drug addiction, mental health, physical health, and school environment.

“I was very concerned with the rise of drug addiction among students,” Taveras said. “And I felt that if a third of our students were chronically absent, the rise of the opportunities for them to engage in inappropriate consumption of drugs would increase,” especially drugs “laced with opioids to deliberately addict them.”

Taveras added that she believes Maryland’s high absenteeism rates are “unacceptable.”

“We’ve got to correct for that,” she said. “We’ve got to give these kids a fighting chance.”

Other bills sponsored by Republicans have not advanced. Republican Del. April Miller of Frederick County sponsored two bills: one to shift schools to later start times and one to require school systems to provide virtual options.

“I think with both of them, there is some reluctance to mandate things at a statewide level right now,” Miller said, noting that the cost of the state’s Blueprint legislation has been placing demands on local jurisdictions.

Miller added that she hopes local school systems will implement her proposals on their own.

“It’ll almost be more like pilot programs, and then hopefully other school systems will follow along and do it without a state mandate,” she said.

Edelson said while shifting to later school start times sounds like a “reasonable idea,” he’d rather focus on fixing the bus system, specifically in Baltimore, where many students rely on them to get to school.

“I feel like it can just be a slippery slope where you keep pushing class time later and later, instead of fixing the underlying issue,” Edelson said.

Miller said school policy has to be “in the best interest of kids.”

“If you have to get on the bus at 6 in the morning, that’s really early for some kids,” she said.

Republican Del. April Rose, who represents Carroll and Frederick counties, withdrew a bill she had sponsored that would have required school funding to be based on quarterly, rather than annual, enrollment counts. She didn’t respond when asked why the bill was withdrawn.

Another bill that originated in the Senate would establish “Restorative Practices Schools.” The bill addresses student absenteeism and truancy, conduct that leads to disciplinary actions, teacher turnover, mental health and school climate.

The bill is sponsored by Democratic Sens. Benjamin Brooks of Baltimore County and Alonzo Washington of Prince George’s County. It has been referred to a House committee after passing the Senate. A similar bill, sponsored by Baltimore County Democratic Del. Cheryl Pasteur, is in a Senate committee after passing the House.

A bill proposed by Democratic Sen. Mary Washington of Baltimore City, chair of the education subcommittee, would provide more specificity about how funding for community-based initiatives can be used, including “truancy and absenteeism intervention programs.”

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