Louisiana Senate Bill SB507

Louisiana 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/31/26
• Refer: 4/1/26
• Report Pass: 4/22/26
• Engrossed: 5/6/26
• Refer: 5/7/26

Caption

STUDENTS: Requires BESE to establish a uniform process to determine when a student is nonenrolled due to incarceration or unknown whereabouts in order to exclude the student from public school accountability calculations. (8/1/26)

Summary

SB 507 requires the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to create a uniform, standardized process for public school systems to determine when a student should be treated as nonenrolled because the student is incarcerated or cannot be located. The process must require documented, reasonable, good-faith efforts to verify the student’s status before a district can make that determination, and it must include minimum documentation standards, timelines, and verification procedures to promote consistency across school systems. Once a student is properly determined to be nonenrolled under this process, the student would no longer be counted as enrolled for purposes of Louisiana’s school and district accountability system. The bill also directs that these determinations comply with federal law, including the Every Student Succeeds Act, and requires BESE to adopt implementing rules under the Administrative Procedure Act. The measure amends the charter school exemption statute so that charter schools are also subject to this enrollment-status process.

Impact

The bill adds R.S. 17:13 and amends R.S. 17:3996(B) to make the nonenrollment determination process a statewide requirement for both traditional public schools and charter schools. Its practical effect is to change how student enrollment is reported for accountability calculations, potentially affecting school performance scores, letter grades, and related interventions when students are incarcerated or missing and cannot be verified as enrolled. It places new administrative duties on school systems and BESE, but does not create a new student discipline or attendance penalty framework.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was broadly supported in the Senate, passing final passage 35-0. The absence of recorded opposition in the provided materials indicates general agreement with the goal of improving accuracy and consistency in accountability reporting. The committee amendment making the bill explicitly applicable to charter schools also suggests the measure was refined to ensure broader coverage rather than to narrow its scope.

Contention

The main policy issue is how to balance accurate accountability reporting with the need to avoid improperly removing students from enrollment counts. The bill addresses that concern by requiring documented, reasonable, good-faith efforts to locate the student and by tying the process to federal law. Another point of attention is the inclusion of charter schools, which were added through committee amendment to ensure the same rules apply across school types. No direct opposition is reflected in the provided transcripts or vote record.