Amends TCA Title 37 and Title 49, Chapter 6.

Under present law, a parent, guardian, or other person who has control of a child, and who violates the provisions of law relative to school attendance commits educational neglect, which is a Class C misdemeanor. A director of schools or attendance supervisor must devise and recommend, and the local board of education must adopt, a progressive truancy plan that implements tiers of intervention for students who violate compulsory attendance requirements prior to the filing of a truancy petition or a criminal prosecution for educational neglect. These interventions must be designed to address student conduct related to truancy in the school setting and minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court. <br /> <br /> If an LEA has applied such a plan and interventions under the plan have failed to meaningfully address the student's school attendance, the director of schools, after written notice to the parent, guardian, or other person having control of the student, must report the student who is unlawfully absent from school to the appropriate judge having juvenile jurisdiction in that county. <br /> <br /> This bill increases the penalty of educational neglect to a Class B misdemeanor if the child is in poor academic standing, which is defined in this bill as a child failing English language arts, mathematics, science, or social studies, or having a grade point average below 2.0. This bill also requires that if a petition is submitted to the juvenile court alleging educational neglect, then the petition must include whether the child is in poor academic standing.<br /> <br /> This bill applies to petitions for educational neglect filed on or after July 1, 2023.<br />