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Leader: Young Iowa Guard members are marked as chronically absent from school while on duty
Iowa National Guard Adjutant General Steve Osborn asks state lawmakers to exempt 17- and 18-year-old Guard members from being marked absent while performing guard duties
Jan. 16, 2025 3:48 pm, Updated: Jan. 16, 2025 4:25 pm
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DES MOINES — Iowa National Guard responsibilities are contributing to school absenteeism numbers for some young Guard members who are still in high school, the Guard’s leader said Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Steve Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, raised the issue during the annual Condition of the Guard address to a joint session of the Iowa Legislature at the Iowa Capitol.
Osborn is asking state lawmakers to change the state’s mandatory attendance law to exclude members of the military.
The Iowa National Guard has proposed legislation, House Study Bill 2, which would add individuals engaged in military service or applying for military entrance to those exempt from the state’s mandatory K-12 school attendance law.
“We request an exception to the current chronic absenteeism law for military applicants and those fulfilling their duty without being penalized academically,” Osborn said during his address to the Iowa Legislature. “We ask for your support of this provision to help our high school military applicants and recruits seamlessly enter the military and begin their service.”
After his speech, Osborn told reporters that roughly 400 Iowa National Guard soldiers are 17 years old. He was unable to say how many of those 400 have been marked absent or chronically absent due to missing school for Guard duties.
Osborn said when individuals join the Guard, they are required to travel to Des Moines during the week to be tested, get a physical and more.
“Any Iowan, any young person, young man or woman, that wants to join the military and they haven’t graduated high school yet, they’re going to have to take a day off of school to come to Des Moines to take the test and the physical,” Osborn said. “Not just the Iowa Guard, but everybody (in the military). So we’re just trying to add that into the exemption of that law.”
Iowa Rep. Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant who is a leader on the legislative budget committee that includes the Iowa National Guard, said he believes lawmakers should take a close look at the issue and the Guard’s proposed fix.
“That’s not a situation that ever crossed my mind. I actually leaned over to (a colleague) and said, ‘I didn’t realize. How does this apply to kids?’ And I was not aware of those situations,” Lohse said.
“I think we certainly need to look at that and, one, make sure that the school knows they’re being part of the military. And certainly, to me, then (state law) should exempt them … just take that off of the school’s plate.”
Osborn also is asking lawmakers to adjust the Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship to allow the program to include certificate and credentialing programs. The proposal would not require additional funding, a Guard official said.
Osborn said the scholarship is the most-utilized state benefit offered Guard members. Under current state law, the scholarship can only be used for degree programs, Osborn said.
“We know that in today’s world, community colleges, a lot of our universities, are offering short-term credentialing programs,” Osborn said. “We’re really focused in the STEM-related fields and the trades-related fields for short-term credentialing and certificate programs that allow our people to use that source.”
The Guard also has proposed legislation on the scholarship program, House Study Bills 3 and 4.
Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com
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