{
  "id": 82906,
  "title": "NYC revamps how schools handle school avoidance under legal agreement",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/nyc-revamps-how-schools-handle-school-avoidance-under-legal-agreement",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-03T12:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Chalkbeat",
    "slug": "chalkbeat",
    "url": "https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026/08/03/nyc-lawsuit-agreement-creates-school-avoidance-guidance-liaisons/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "New York City's Education Department has revised its approach to handling students who avoid attending school due to social or emotional disabilities, as part of an agreement reached with the legal team representing four students in a class action lawsuit. The issue of school avoidance, sometimes referred to as school refusal, occurs when students miss extended periods of school due to mental health concerns such as anxiety or depression. This lawsuit, filed in October 2024, alleged that the city had no policies or procedures to ensure students received their legally entitled \"free appropriate public education.\" The city spent over a year negotiating an agreement with attorneys from the Legal Aid Society and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, which was signed on Friday. The new systemwide guidance mandates that every school designate a school avoidance liaison, a teacher, administrator, or other staff member responsible for creating individualized plans to reintegrate students into the classroom. The shift involves amending policies, increasing training, and raising awareness about the root causes of school avoidance. Flavia Puello-Perdomo, deputy chancellor for family partnership and community support, emphasized the importance of intervening early to address the needs of students and tackle chronic absenteeism. Schools will now provide these liaisons with annual two-hour training on behaviors leading to school avoidance and supply families with information about mental health resources. The agreement also requires the Education Department to develop training materials by January 2027, detailing how to discuss school avoidance behaviors with parents and offer gradual reintegration plans. Experts stress that schools should not expect immediate perfect attendance from students with school avoidance issues but should instead develop personalized plans for their return to school. The agreement also addresses the issue of schools refusing to evaluate students for special education support due to their absence from campus. Moving forward, schools must consider school avoidance as a legitimate factor when evaluating students for special education services.",
  "summary": "New York City’s Education Department is changing how it responds to students who are chronically absent due to school avoidance, according to an agreement officials signed last week with the legal team that brought a class action lawsuit over the issue. School…",
  "key_points": [
    "NYC Education Department revises approach to school avoidance under legal agreement.",
    "Designates school avoidance liaisons in every school to create individualized reintegration plans."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}