Attendance Division. Education Code &

Transcription

1 Attendance Division

2 Failure To Attend

3 Attendance Division Education Code & Supervisor Cpl. Erica Journet Investigators Warren Davison, Chauncey McFarlin,, & Officer Pamela Horace (281) Davison/Horace - office (281) McFarlin - office warren.davison@humble.k12.tx.us chauncey.mcfarlin@humble.k12.tx.us pamela.horace@humble.k12.tx.us

4 Attendance Officers Investigator Warren Davison Has worked with Humble ISD Police Department 13 years; beginning his 3 year with Attendance Division. Investigator Chauncey McFarlin Has been employed by the Humble ISD Police Department 8 years; beginning his 4 year with Attendance Division. Officer Pamela Horace Has been employed by the Humble ISD Police Department 2 years; beginning her 1 st year with Attendance Division.

5 Texas Education Code Attendance Laws Compulsory School Attendance Exemptions Prevention Measures and Requirements Warning Notices Filings Excused Absences/ Mandatory and Permissive Failure to Attend School Parent Contributing to Nonattendance

6 Truancy Defined Truancy - any absence not authorized by school authorities when students are under school jurisdiction or without parental consent when students are believed by the school to be under the supervision of the parents Zeros are recorded for all work missed. Students are not allowed to make up work for truancy Disciplinary action will be taken as specified in the District s s Discipline Management Plan

7 ATTENDANCE LAWS Failure to Attend Who must attend A child who is at least 6 years of age, or who is younger than 6 years of age and has previously been enrolled in first grade, and who has not yet reached the child s s 18th birthday, is required to attend school. A person who voluntarily enrolls in school or voluntarily attends school after the person s s 18th birthday shall attend school each school day for the entire period of the program. Their enrollment may be revoked after the person has more than 5 unexcused absences in a semester. Only the child's parent or guardian or other person with legal control of the child under a court order may enroll a child,, and the school district must record the name, address, and date of birth of the person enrolling a child. (Texas Education Code )

8 Texas Education Code Attendance Laws Compulsory School Attendance (a) A child who is required to attend school under this section shall attend school each school day for the entire period the program of instruction is provided. (b) Unless specifically exempted by Section , a child who is at least six years of age, or who is younger than six years of age and has previously been enrolled in first grade, and who has not yet reached the child's 18th birthday shall attend school. (c) On enrollment in prekindergarten or kindergarten, a child shall attend school. (d) Unless specifically exempted by Section , a student enrolled in a school district must attend:

9 ATTENDANCE LAWS Exemptions (a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory school attendance if the child: (1) attends a private or parochial school that includes in its course a study of good citizenship; (2) is eligible to participate in a school district's special education program under Section and cannot be appropriately served by the resident district; (3) has a physical or mental condition of a temporary and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and recuperating from that remedial treatment

10 District Policy: Absences Excused 1-Religious holy days 2-Child s (temporary) illness 3-Death in family 4-Quarantine of child or family member 5-Weather/Road conditions make travel dangerous 6-Circumstances found reasonable, proper 7-Absence approved by teacher, principal, and/or superintendent. 8- Grades 6-12 to sound TAPS 9- Junior or Senior to visit college or university

11 WARNING NOTICES Warning Notices Warning notices to parents or persons standing in parental relation to a student are required at the beginning of the school year, and again when a student has accumulated 3 absences. A. B. A. At the beginning of the school year. A school district shall notify the parent in writing at the beginning of the school year that if the student is absent from school on 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6-month period in the same school year, or on 3 or more days or parts of days within a 4-week period, the parent is subject to prosecution for parent contributing to nonattendance, and the student is subject to prosecution for failure to attend school. B. When the student has 3 absences. The school district shall notify a parent if the student has been absent without excuse, on 3 days or parts of days within a 4-week period. This notice must: (i) Inform the parent that: It is the parent s s duty to monitor and require the student to attend school, and The parent is subject to prosecution for parent contributing to nonattendance; and (ii) Request a conference between school officials and the parent.

12 Many students drop out of school because of cumulative effects of negative factors including: Family issues such as drugs, alcohol, abuse Personal issues such as drugs, alcohol, gangs, etc. Lack of positive role models; education not valued at home Family moves often, is transient due to parent s s work or other reasons Poor behavior choices Lack of success academically Not involved in extra-curricular activities

13 Prevention Measures and Requirements Prevention Measures and Requirements Truancy Prevention Measures. A school district is required to adopt truancy prevention measures designed to: address student conduct related to truancy in the school setting; minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court for excessive unexcused absences; and minimize the filing of complaints in county, justice, and municipal courts alleging failure to attend school. Requirements at Time of Filing. Each complaint alleging a failure to attend school or each referral made for this conduct, must be accompanied by a statement from the student s s school: certifying that the school applied the school s s truancy prevention measures, certifying that the truancy prevention measures failed meaningfully to address the student s s school attendance, and specifying whether the student is eligible for or receives special education services.

14 Role of Attendance Officer Attendance officers primary objective is to improve student attendance by enforcing the Texas Compulsory Attendance Laws. This happens through: Investigation and enforcement of Compulsory Attendance Laws Home visits Court case preparation Other issues, such as Verification Of Address

15 FILINGS Filings Filing a complaint against a student who is 12 years of age or older and younger than 18 years of age,, in a county, justice, or municipal court if the student has absences for 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6-month period, or 3 or more days or parts of days within a 4-week period; or We no longer file complaints against a student who is 10 to 11 years of age. The parents of the 10 to 11 years will have complaints filed against them.

16 Parent Contributing - Mandatory Mandatory action against student by school district. If a student fails to attend school without excuse on 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6-month period in the same school year, the school district must, within 10 school days of the 10th absence: (i) File a complaint against the student who is 12 years of age or older and younger than 18 years of age, for failure to attend school, against the student s s parent for parent contributing to nonattendance, or both; or A court is required to dismiss a complaint that is not filed or a referral that is not made within 10 school days of the student s s 10th absence.

17 Parent Contributing - Permissive Permissive action against student by school district. When a student fails to attend school without excuse on 3 or more days or parts of days within a 4-week period, the school district may: (i) File a complaint against the student who is 12 years of age or older and younger than 18 years of age, for failure to attend school, against the student s s parent for parent contributing to nonattendance, Attendance clerks or registers must show the Parent is contributing to nonattendance. i.e. Parent has child go to work during school hours.

18 Fines In the court, students and parents may be fined $ and/or be required to perform community service or attend counseling sessions or court-mandated workshops or classes. A return visit to court is usually required to review the student s s class attendance to verify improvement in attendance or lack thereof.

19 District Policy: Absences Unexcused 1. A school district shall notify a student s parent/guardian if: The student has been absent without excuse for 3 or more days or parts of days in a 4 week period The notice must state that it is the parent/guardian s s duty to monitor the student s s attendance and if the student is absent without excuse for 10 or more days or parts of days within a 6 month period, or 3 or more days or parts thereof within a 4 week period: 1. The parent/guardian is subject to prosecution under section , and 2. The student is subject to prosecution under section

20 District Policy: Tardiness A student will be considered tardy if they are not in the classroom when the tardy bell rings. Students who have unexcused tardies will be referred to the assistant principal Students arriving at school after the tardy bell has rung for the first class shall secure a permit from the attendance office

21 EXCUSED NOTES The student has two days after his/her return to school to bring an absence excuse. If no excuse is submitted, the absence will be regarded as a truancy. LATE NOTICES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR COURT PURPOSES! If a parent chooses to plea not guilty, we will be requesting a copy of all excused notes within your files.

22 Did you Know in the U.S. 72% of students ages 10 to 13 say they would like to talk to their parents more about their school work; so would 48% of 14 to 17 year olds 31% of girls drop out do so because they become pregnant 80% of unwed teen mothers end up on welfare 31% of students who drop out say they did it because they could not keep up with school work 15.3% of students who drop out do it because they have to get a job

23 Questions and Answers

24 Thank you for your attendance Together Everyone Achieves More