Esta ley enmienda la Ley Orgánica del Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico para hacer obligatoria la asistencia escolar para niños entre 5 y 21 años, con ciertas excepciones. Además, reincorpora y establece sanciones para padres o tutores que permitan el ausentismo escolar de menores, incluyendo multas, posible encarcelamiento y la cancelación de beneficios de programas de asistencia social. La ley también instruye al Departamento de Educación a establecer reglamentos para notificar ausencias y gestionar casos de ausentismo.
(Approved June 25, 2002)
To amend Section 1.03 of Act No. 149 of July 15, 1999, as amended, known as the "Organic Act of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico," in order to designate the paragraph therein as subsection
(a) and to include subsections
(b) and
(c) , which were inadvertently excluded by Act No. 191 of December 31, 2001.
Section 1.03 of Act No. 149 of July 15, 1999, as amended, known as the "Organic Act of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico," made school attendance compulsory for all children between the ages of five and eighteen. In addition, subsections
(b) and
(c) of said Section provided for penalties that any parent, tutor or person in charge would be subject to if he or she fostered, allowed or tolerated the school absenteeism of a minor; it also directed that the Department of Education establish through Regulations the manner in which to notify absences and to implement the provisions, procedures, and measures to manage said conduct.
Act No. 191 of December 31, 2001, amended Section 1.03 of Act No. 149, supra, so that school attendance be compulsory for children between the ages of five and twenty-one, with the exception of children with high academic performance, and children enrolled in a high-school education program for adults or other programs which prepare them for
being readmitted into regular daytime schools, or children who have taken the high-school equivalency test.
In approving said Act, it was not the intent of this Legislature to exclude technically-due to an error in drafting-subsections
(b) and
(c) of Section 1.03 of Act No. 149. Therefore, this Legislature deems it necessary to include these subsections in Section 1.03 of Act No. 149.
Section 1.- Section 1.03 of Act No. 149 of July 15, 1999, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 1.03.—Obligatory School Attendance.— a. School attendance shall be obligatory for all children between the ages of five (5) and twenty-one (21), with the exception of children with high academic performance, and children enrolled in a high-school education program for adults or other programs which prepare them for being readmitted into regular daytime schools, or children who have taken the high-school equivalency test. b. Any parent, tutor or person in charge of a minor who fosters, allows or tolerates that said minor be absent from school or who neglects his/her obligation to ensure that the latter attends school, shall incur a misdemeanor and be sanctioned with a fine of not more than five hundred (500) dollars or a term of imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months or both penalties at the discretion of the Court. He/she shall also incur an administrative fault which may entail the cancellation of the benefits of the Child Support Program, the public housing programs and the subsidized housing programs. The Department shall establish, through Regulations, a
system for the notification of absences to the parents of minors so that they may comply with the obligation imposed by this Act. The Regulations shall provide the manner in which the agencies that administer the welfare programs are to be notified about the absences so that they may take the action provided in this Section. c. The Secretary shall establish the manner in which to implement the provisions of this Section through Regulations. The Regulations shall:
(b) of this Section."
Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 94 (H.B. 2255) of the $\underline{3}^{ ext {rd }}$. Session of the $\underline{14}^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Section 1.03 of Act No. 149 of July 15, 1999, as amended, known as the "Organic Act of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico," in order to designate the paragraph therein as subsection
(a) and to include subsections
(b) and
(c) , which were inadvertently excluded by Act No. 191 of December 31, 2001, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $3^{ ext {th }}$ of February of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director