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A proposal to decriminalize school truancy was amended on Tuesday to lessen, but maintain, the criminal penalties for parents whose children's absences from school go unexcused.
Under the new version of the bill, a first offense could result in an infraction, with parents subject to a class C misdemeanor if absences continue.
Truancy is currently punishable as a class B misdemeanor, although schools typically rely on the threat of criminal action, and not charges, to incentivize attendance.
Kearns Republican Rep. Eric Hutchings, who sponsored the amendment, said changing to an infraction would be "like a parking ticket," offering an appropriate response to absences while maintaining compulsory attendance laws.
"It doesn't show up on a criminal background check," he said. "It doesn't carry any jail time for any reason of any kind."
Sen. Alvin Jackson, R-Highland, sponsored the original bill. He said his goal has always been to strike a balance between parental freedom and the proper role of government.
"I don't think government was meant to be in the position of force and compulsion," he said.
But Holladay Democratic Rep. Carol Moss, a former educator, said parents are already granted considerable leeway in excusing their students from school.
She described the bill as focused on "upper-middle-class problems," saying compulsory attendance laws are intended as a check against parental negligence and not to deter family trips or participation in competitive sports.
"When we're talking about parents' rights, let's measure it against kids' rights and students' rights and make it possible for these kids to get an education," she said.
And Rep. Marie Poulson, D-Salt Lake City, said she has seen sick students excused for an entire year, or families travel internationally for weeks, with no consequences.
But there also examples of real truancy, she said, where the rights of children are violated.
"This bill is a solution to a problem that I don't think exists," she said. "There needs to be some sort of penalty, and enough to induce parents to send their children to school."
The updated bill was approved along party lines by the House Education Committee.
It will now be transferred to the full House, where the floor sponsor is expected to run an additional amendment that would end the requirement that homeschool parents submit a notarized affidavit to their resident school district.
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