{ "code": "FEC", "title": "Attendance: Attendance for Credit", "description": "This policy governs the relationship between student attendance and the awarding of academic credit. It establishes the conditions under which absences may affect a student's ability to earn credit for a course. The policy sets out the rules schools follow when determining whether a student has attended enough to receive credit.", "policy_connect_url": "https://policyconnect.org/policy/conroe-isd/FEC", "last_action_date": "2026-05-12", "last_action_result": "adopted", "timeline_local": [ { "date": "2026-05-12", "school_year": "2025-2026", "action": "adopted", "result": "adopted", "summary": "This update to Conroe ISD's FEC (Attendance for Credit) policy revises the \"Student Health Care and Personal Illness\" section to align with Texas Education Code Section 25.087 (as amended by HB 367 and SB 207), explicitly requiring the principal or attendance committee to consider absences from serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment, updating terminology from \"provider\" to \"professional,\" replacing \"administrative regulations\" with \"District procedure,\" and adding the phrase \"an appointment for health care or\" before \"personal illness.\" A new sentence is also added requiring the District to adopt procedures to implement the policy.", "changes_added": [ "In determining extenuating circumstances,", "shall consider and absence resulting from a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment as defined in Texas Education Code Section 25.087. The principal or attendance committee", "professional", "District procedure", "an appointment for health care or", "The District shall adopt procedures to implement this policy." ], "changes_removed": [ "T", "provider", "administrative regulations", "for health care or" ], "meeting_notes_url": "https://cisd-meetings.boardmonitor.app/meeting.html?id=2026-05-12_regular", "confidence": "high", "source_redline": "FEC_LOCAL.pdf", "notes": "The cover page title states \"Consider on Second Read and Final Adoption,\" which maps to action = \"second_reading.\" The redline on pages 3–4 clearly marks red-underlined additions and red-strikethrough removals in the Student Health Care and Personal Illness section. The section header \"Student Health Care and\" appears in red underline, indicating the section title itself was updated (previously \"Personal Illness\" only). The legislative basis pages (5–7) are reference/background material, not policy text, and were excluded. Minor formatting ambiguity around the capital \"T\" strikethrough (from \"The\" to \"the\") was captured.", "compliance_assessment": { "classification": "Mixed", "elements": [ { "element": "Principal or attendance committee shall consider absences resulting from serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment", "classification": "Permitted by Law", "statutory_basis": "TEC §25.087(b)(3) as amended by HB 367 (89th Leg., R.S., 2025)", "supporting_quote": "an absence resulting from a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment that makes the student's attendance infeasible, if the student or the student's parent or guardian provides on a form adopted by the district under Subsection (g) a certification from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "Statute permits excusal of such absences but does not mandate that principals or attendance committees 'shall consider' them as extenuating circumstances; district chose to elevate this to a mandatory consideration in local policy." }, { "element": "Replacement of term 'provider' with 'professional' to align with statutory terminology", "classification": "Required by Law", "statutory_basis": "TEC §25.087(b)(3) as amended by HB 367 (89th Leg., R.S., 2025); TEC §25.087(b)(2) as amended by SB 207 (89th Leg., R.S., 2025)", "supporting_quote": "a certification from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state specifying the following information, as determined by the physician: (A) the student's illness; (B) a statement that the illness is serious or life-threatening; (C) the anticipated period of the student's absence relating to the illness or related treatment; and (D) a statement that the illness makes the student's attendance infeasible during the anticipated period of absence described by Paragraph (C)", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "None — terminology change directly tracks statutory language using 'physician' and 'health care professionals' rather than generic 'provider.'" }, { "element": "Replacement of 'administrative regulations' with 'District procedure' as governing implementation mechanism", "classification": "Locally Discretionary", "statutory_basis": "None", "supporting_quote": "None", "verification_method": "unverified", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "No statute specifies whether implementation must be labeled 'administrative regulations' or 'district procedures'; this is a local policy drafting choice." }, { "element": "Addition of phrase 'an appointment for health care or' before 'personal illness'", "classification": "Permitted by Law", "statutory_basis": "TEC §25.087(b)(2) as amended by SB 207 (89th Leg., R.S., 2025)", "supporting_quote": "a temporary absence resulting from an appointment with health care professionals, including mental health professionals, for the student or the student's child if the student commences classes or returns to school on the same day of the appointment", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "Statute expressly permits but does not mandate that districts excuse health care appointment absences; district elected to incorporate this permission into attendance policy language." }, { "element": "New sentence requiring the District to adopt procedures to implement this policy", "classification": "Required by Law", "statutory_basis": "TEC §25.087(g) as added by HB 367 (89th Leg., R.S., 2025)", "supporting_quote": "a school district is: (1) required to adopt a form to provide the certification described by that subsection", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "Statute mandates adoption of a physician certification form; policy sentence broadly requires adoption of procedures to implement the policy, which encompasses the statutory form requirement but extends somewhat beyond it — the broader procedural adoption language is a local drafting choice, though its core is legally required." } ] }, "compliance_summary": [ "Serious Illness Absences: State law H.B. 367 (TEC §25.087(b)(3)) now allows school officials to excuse absences caused by a serious or life-threatening illness or its treatment. Conroe ISD's updated policy goes a step further by requiring that principals or attendance committees consider these absences when making decisions about attendance credit.", "Updated Health Care Terminology: H.B. 367 and S.B. 207 changed the wording used in state law from 'provider' to specific terms like 'physician' and 'health care professionals.' This policy update brings Conroe ISD's language in line with those exact terms now used in state law.", "Health Care Appointment Absences: S.B. 207 (TEC §25.087(b)(2)) gives school districts the option to excuse absences for health care appointments. Conroe ISD has chosen to include this option in its attendance policy by adding language that covers absences for 'an appointment for health care.'", "Required Implementation Procedures: H.B. 367 (TEC §25.087(g)) requires school districts to adopt a physician certification form as part of how they carry out this attendance policy. Conroe ISD's updated policy includes a broader requirement to adopt procedures to put the policy into practice, which covers the state-required form and additional steps the district has chosen to include.", "Policy Drafting Language: The policy replaces the phrase 'administrative regulations' with 'District procedure' to describe how the policy will be carried out. No state law requires one term over the other — this is a local wording choice made during the policy update." ] }, { "date": "2026-04-21", "school_year": "2025-2026", "action": "first_reading", "result": "first_reading", "summary": "This update to Conroe ISD's FEC (Local) policy on Attendance for Credit revises the Student Health Care and Personal Illness section to explicitly require the principal or attendance committee to consider health care and serious/life-threatening illness absences as extenuating circumstances, updates the terminology from \"administrative regulations\" to \"District procedure,\" replaces \"health-care professional provider\" with \"health-care professional,\" and adds a new sentence requiring the District to adopt procedures to implement the policy.", "changes_added": [ "In determining extenuating circumstances, T (capitalization change integrating new introductory clause)", "the principal or attendance committee shall consider absence for appointments with health care professionals and absence resulting from a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment as defined in Texas Education Code Section 25.087. The principal or attendance committee", "District procedure", "an appointment for health care or", "The District shall adopt procedures to implement this policy." ], "changes_removed": [ "Tthe (formatting artifact of original capital T being lowercased into the new clause)", "administrative regulations", "professional provider", "for health care or" ], "meeting_notes_url": "https://cisd-meetings.boardmonitor.app/meeting.html?id=2026-04-21_regular", "confidence": "medium", "source_redline": "FEC_LOCAL.pdf", "notes": "The redline on page 3 shows the \"Student Health Care and Personal Illness\" section heading itself is underlined in red, suggesting it may be a new or renamed section heading, though the section existed previously. The main substantive changes are: (1) adding explicit language that the principal/attendance committee SHALL consider health care and serious/life-threatening illness absences when determining extenuating circumstances (previously this was implied or less direct); (2) replacing \"administrative regulations\" with \"District procedure\"; (3) replacing \"professional provider\" with \"professional\"; and (4) adding the new closing sentence \"The District shall adopt procedures to implement this policy.\" Some of the tracked changes involved mid-sentence restructuring making clean separation of added vs. removed text slightly ambiguous. The cover page title says \"Consider and Adopt Revisions,\" which maps to action = \"adopted\" per the rules.", "compliance_assessment": { "classification": "Mixed", "elements": [ { "element": "Requirement that principal or attendance committee shall consider health care professional appointment absences as extenuating circumstances", "classification": "Mixed", "statutory_basis": "TEC § 25.092(b); TEC § 25.087(b)(2)", "supporting_quote": "a temporary absence resulting from an appointment with health care professionals, including mental health professionals, for the student or the student's child if the student commences classes or returns to school on the same day of the appointment", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text — TEC §25.087(b)(2) as amended by S.B. 207, enrolled bill, 89th Leg., R.S., capitol.texas.gov", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "TEC § 25.092(b) requires the board to establish extenuating circumstance guidelines, and TEC § 25.087(b)(2) mandates excusal of health care appointment absences, providing the legal foundation. However, the statute does not expressly mandate that the principal or attendance committee specifically must treat health care appointments as extenuating circumstances in the attendance-for-credit context — that specific directive is a local policy choice layering the two statutes together." }, { "element": "Requirement that principal or attendance committee shall consider serious or life-threatening illness absences (as defined in TEC § 25.087) as extenuating circumstances", "classification": "Mixed", "statutory_basis": "TEC § 25.092(b); TEC § 25.087(b)(3)", "supporting_quote": "Each board of trustees shall establish guidelines to determine what constitutes extenuating circumstances | A school district shall excuse a student from attending school for: ... an absence resulting from a serious or life-threatening illness or related treatment that makes the student's attendance infeasible, if the student or the student's parent or guardian provides on a form adopted by the district under Subsection (g) a certification from a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "TEC § 25.092 further provides that a student's excused absence under § 25.087(b)(3) may not be counted against attendance requirements, creating a strong statutory basis. However, neither statute explicitly mandates that these absences be designated extenuating circumstances in the committee or principal review process — the district is layering the two statutes into a specific procedural directive, which goes beyond what either statute alone expressly compels." }, { "element": "Terminology change from 'administrative regulations' to 'District procedure'", "classification": "Locally Discretionary", "statutory_basis": "None", "supporting_quote": "None", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "No statute in the analysis prescribes how the district must label its implementing documents. This is a purely stylistic and organizational drafting choice by Conroe ISD." }, { "element": "Terminology change from 'health-care professional provider' to 'health-care professional'", "classification": "Locally Discretionary", "statutory_basis": "TEC § 25.087(b)(2)", "supporting_quote": "a temporary absence resulting from an appointment with health care professionals, including mental health professionals, for the student or the student's child if the student commences classes or returns to school on the same day of the appointment", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text — TEC §25.087(b)(2) as amended by S.B. 207, enrolled bill, 89th Leg., R.S., capitol.texas.gov", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "While the revision aligns district terminology more closely with the statutory phrase 'health care professionals,' no statute mandates this specific wording in local policy. The change is a clerical drafting refinement chosen locally." }, { "element": "New sentence requiring the District to adopt procedures to implement this policy", "classification": "Locally Discretionary", "statutory_basis": "TEC § 25.092(b)", "supporting_quote": "Each board of trustees shall establish guidelines to determine what constitutes extenuating circumstances | shall adopt policies establishing alternative ways for students to make up work or regain credit or a final grade lost because of absences", "verification_method": "verbatim statute text", "litigation_status": "None identified", "local_additions": "TEC § 25.092(b) requires the board to establish guidelines and adopt policies, but it does not mandate that the board policy itself contain a self-referential sentence directing the district to adopt implementing procedures. The addition of this sentence is a locally chosen drafting mechanism to ensure administrative follow-through, not a requirement expressed in the statute." } ] }, "compliance_summary": [ "Health Care Appointment Absences: The updated policy requires the principal or attendance committee to treat absences for health care appointments as extenuating circumstances when deciding whether a student receives credit. Texas law under TEC § 25.087(b)(2) requires schools to excuse these absences, and TEC § 25.092(b) requires the board to set guidelines for extenuating circumstances, though combining these two requirements into one specific directive is a local policy decision by Conroe ISD.", "Serious Illness Absences: The policy now also requires the principal or attendance committee to treat absences caused by a serious or life-threatening illness as extenuating circumstances in the attendance-for-credit review process. TEC § 25.087(b)(3) and TEC § 25.092 together provide a strong legal foundation for this, though the specific procedural directive is a local choice made by Conroe ISD.", "Terminology Update — Health Care Professional: The policy replaces the phrase 'health-care professional provider' with 'health-care professional,' which more closely matches the wording used in TEC § 25.087(b)(2). This is a drafting refinement chosen by the district and is not required by state law.", "Terminology Update — District Procedure: The policy changes the term 'administrative regulations' to 'District procedure' when referring to how the policy will be carried out. No state law requires this specific wording, making it a local drafting choice.", "Procedures Requirement Added: A new sentence was added stating that the District must adopt procedures to put this policy into practice. TEC § 25.092(b) requires the board to establish guidelines and adopt policies, but the specific addition of this sentence directing the district to create implementing procedures is a local drafting decision." ] } ], "timeline_legal": [] }