Bill of rights for justice-engaged students advances in Colorado
DENVER (KDVR) — With just a little more than a week left in this year’s regular legislative session, a group of parents and advocates celebrated a bill that advanced Monday and aims to help students succeed in school.
The bill is informally called the “Justice-Engaged Student Bill of Rights,” and it’s geared toward students who are involved in the justice system. Advocates say the bill will streamline services these students need to graduate.
“In the state of Colorado right now, the funding is tight, but as we’ve said and as we’ve displayed and as we’ve done with our stakeholders, we have been committed to ensuring that justice-engaged students in the state of Colorado have a codified pathway to high school graduation,” said Reverend Dr. Jose Silva, vice president of equity initiatives at Generation Schools Network.
Silva and other community members were at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass this bill before the session ends.
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Advocates said the term “justice-engaged” applies to a range of students.
“They could’ve been homeless and needed a meal, so they committed a crime of theft. Or it could be somebody who is truant, you get truancy nowadays in terms of tickets,” Silva said. “But then it’s also on the spectrum of those in terms of assault or other terms of criminal mischief. The particular students that this bill is going to focus on is that latter part of about 20,000 of these students who have committed low-level offenses, and those low-level offenses are negatively impacting them from being able to complete their education.”
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Generation Schools Network says about 22,000 students in Colorado fall under this category.
They said only 1 in 5 of these students has a chance of graduating.
The measure they support creates a hotline for families who need help getting their student back on track. It also helps students get their credits back online after they have been involved with the system.
School districts would be required to have a trained, designated contact who would have to connect with families within a certain amount of days after they reach out. Finally, it helps students reintegrate back into the classroom.
The hotline was a bit of a barrier in getting the bill passed, as funding for the line became an issue. However, Generation Schools Network stepped up to fund that aspect of the bill, lowering the cost for the state.
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Parents like Michelle Villanueva said the hotline would have helped her family tremendously as her child was trying to get back on track after an incident in 2019.
“I think the hotline alone, just somebody that I could call that could help me, because everybody I called they were like, I’m so sorry, once it becomes a legal issue, we can’t help you. So I was like, what do I do?” Villanueva recalled. “I think the school being a part of the equation and partnering is a huge part of this, and also just having the resources and support that you should have — that every kid should have.”
After the funding was adjusted, the bill was able to get out of the Appropriations committee on to the floor to clear its first vote Monday. After clearing that vote, it will have a final vote in the House as early as Tuesday.
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