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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4872 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4872
To help local educational agencies reduce chronic absenteeism and
create safe learning environments in public elementary schools and
secondary schools, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 23, 2026
Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To help local educational agencies reduce chronic absenteeism and
create safe learning environments in public elementary schools and
secondary schools, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Keep Kids in School Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'', ``local
educational agency'', ``secondary school'', and ``State
educational agency'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) Chronic absenteeism.--The term ``chronic absenteeism''
means students at a public elementary school or secondary
school who are absent, for any excused or unexcused reason, for
10 percent or more of the days for which the student is
enrolled in a public school during a school year.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States
of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States
Virgin Islands.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Authorized.--
(1) In general.--From amounts made available to carry out
this section, the Secretary shall award grants to State
educational agencies to enable the State educational agencies
to award subgrants to local educational agencies to provide
assistance to public elementary schools and secondary schools
served by the local educational agencies to reduce the chronic
absenteeism rate at the schools and foster safe learning
environments.
(2) Preference.--In awarding grants to State educational
agencies under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give
preference to States with high rates of chronic absenteeism or
those serving the most vulnerable student populations.
(b) Applications.--
(1) State educational agencies.--A State educational agency
desiring a grant under this section shall submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
(2) Local educational agencies.--A local educational agency
desiring a subgrant under this section shall submit to the
State educational agency in the State in which the local
educational agency is located an application at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the State
educational agency may require.
(c) Use of Funds.--
(1) By states.--A State educational agency receiving a
grant under this section shall use the grant funds to award
subgrants to local educational agencies in the State.
(2) By local educational agencies.--A local educational
agency receiving a subgrant under this section shall use
subgrant funds to reduce chronic absenteeism rates and to
create safe learning environments in public elementary schools
and secondary schools served by the local educational agency.
Such activities may include--
(A) hiring additional counselors, mental health
professionals, social workers, or family liaisons;
(B) providing stipends to teachers to perform home
visits for students who are chronically absent;
(C) supporting programming to address chronic
absenteeism and to improve safety in learning
environments;
(D) transportation costs, such as buses;
(E) research and data collection so schools and
local educational agencies can track absenteeism rates,
patterns, and root causes throughout the school year;
or
(F) other activities or methods that have been
shown to reduce the chronic absenteeism rate.
(d) Reports.--Not later than 3 years after the date a local
educational agency receives a subgrant under this section, the local
educational agency shall prepare and submit to the State educational
agency a report regarding the impact of the subgrant funds and whether
each of the elementary schools or secondary schools supported under the
subgrant reduced their chronic absenteeism rate. The State educational
agency shall submit reports received from local educational agencies to
the Secretary.
SEC. 4. STUDY REGARDING CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM AND SAFE LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS.
(a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a study on chronic absenteeism and safety in learning
environments in public elementary schools and secondary schools of the
United States.
(b) Contents of Study.--In carrying out the study under subsection
(a), the Comptroller General shall examine chronic absenteeism and
research the extent to which evidence-based interventions can reduce
chronic absenteeism rates and improve student achievement and student
well-being.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General shall prepare and submit a report
regarding the study conducted under subsection (a) and the conclusions
and recommendations generated from the study to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on
Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the
Secretary.
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