Santa Fe, NM - This evening, the House of Representatives passed legislation to ensure all New Mexico students attend class. House Bill 240 is sponsored by Reps. Jimmie Hall and James Townsend, and it passed by a vote of 33 to 25.

"Students can't learn if they aren't in class," Hall said. "The goal of this bill is to help schools identify and assist students early before they make a habit of skipping school. We need to use every incentive we have to keep kids in school. "

"The multi-step process established by this bill allows students, parents and schools to work cooperatively," said Townsend. "It's designed to apply early intervention strategies to support students and help them succeed."

The bill would establish programs to prevent truancy. It would require school districts and charter schools to implement an early warning system that would identify students who are either habitually truant or at risk of dropping out. The early warning system would notify parents when their student has three or more absences. When a student has tallied five or more absences, a truancy prevention team would be required to meet with at-risk students and their parents to develop an attendance plan.

This proposal would also put steps in place to suspend the driver's licenses of habitually truant students who have recorded 10 or more absences in a school year.

Habitually truant students are more likely to drop out of school. Last year, almost 15 percent of New Mexico students were considered habitually truant.