ORLANDO, Fla. — Osceola County Representative Erika Booth (R)’s newly introduced bill, HB 13-67, looks to counteract the chronic absenteeism that has become a significant concern for Florida schools.

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The bill defines chronic absenteeism as “a student who has been absent for at least 10 percent of school days or the same classes required for grade promotion or graduation, when enrolled for more than 45 days.”

According to the 2023-2024 Know Your Data report, wherein the percentage of absentee students was listed by Florida school districts, absentee rates are extremely high in several Central Florida counties. In Lake County, that number was 37.7% and, in Orange County, 35.2%. Marion and Osceola counties reported 35.2% and 34.9%, respectively, with Volusia County reporting 34.1%.

READ: Orange County parents take issue with truancy problem in public schools

Representative Booth’s bill, first filed in Feb. 2025, aims to require the state board to “adopt a statewide attendance policy [and provide] requirements for such policy,” including, but not limited to:

Revising the school district and public school duties relating to the promotion and enforcement of regular school attendance, including required actions for students who are absent for a specified number of days or classes
Prohibiting an out-of-school suspension as a punishment for a student’s attendance record
Holding parents responsible for the attendance of children, with the absence of a student from school being a violation of the bill
Provide for the early identification of chronically absent students

The bill also requires the state to “provide reporting requirements to schools relating to student attendance,” at least four times a year.

WATCH: ‘It’s alarming:’ Orange County school leaders want to curb chronic absences

The bill remains under debate in the Florida Legislature. If passed, the mandates outlined in HB 13-67 could go into effect as early as the 2025-26 school year.

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