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Truancy problems start to show up with elementary students
By TONY BRITT
tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
More than 20 truancy cases were heard in Circuit Court this week, signaling Columbia County's has a truancy problem. And another 14 cases will be presented at the end of the month.
To compound the problem, problems with younger students being truant and tardy are increasing.
During the 2003 school year, truancy petitions were filed for 87 children out of 9,609 Columbia County students. State law mandates schools track student attendance and do everything in their power to get students that are continually absent to attend school.
Anne Carroll CQ, Columbia County school district attendance and community resource coordinator, said 22 truancy cases were presented to Circuit Court Judge Julian Collins CQ.
Historically, Columbia County has been ranked near the top in the state in terms of having truancy problems, but Carroll said the rate is being reduced.
Some of the cases were first-time offenses and parents were ordered to have their children in school with no more unexcused absences.
Eight of the cases were for back Rule to Show Cause, where the judge already had ordered parents to have their children in school with no more unexcused absences and the parents did not comply with judge's orders.
"Some parents had been ordered to attend 10 days in school with their child, some students had been ordered to do community service and they were back because they had not followed through on what the court had ordered," Carroll said. "Three of those parents were given 10 days jail time if their child has another unexcused absence. The judge is really serious about this and he's seeing the correlation between the youth we see in juvenile court and their pattern of attendance."
The 22 truancy cases presented Wednesday were filed at the end of the school year and over the summer.
"It's more than we usually have one time, but we've had 122 truancy cases filed in a year and a half," Carroll said. "And we're getting them younger. Once they hit that middle and high school level, it's harder to do anything with them."
School records show that of the 863 students that had out-of-school suspensions last year, 111 were elementary students - with the youngest offender being 6 years old.
"The percentage of students in juvenile court that have been truant, is maintaining between 80 and 87 percent," Carroll said. "It's fluctuating, but I'm seeing a direct correlation between the two. That's why it's so important to catch them early and keep them in school ... change those behaviors."
While officials are seeing younger students brought in for truancy cases, another growing problem with that age group is a large number of elementary students with excessive tardies.
"The students have been coming in 30 minutes to an hour and a half late," Carroll said.
Last year she took an elementary student who had nothing but tardies before the judge. She said the student's tardies averaged up to seven days of missed school and more than 60 days that the child had missed from his language arts class.
"This was a first-grader who has missed a third of the school year as far as language arts, which is crucial," she said. "They're not going to learn to read, write or anything if they don't get language arts. I think the key is the parents have to be held responsible. They're the legal guardians and they are accountable."
School district records show that one middle school child missed 116 days last school year and there were several elementary school children that missed more than 50 days.
Carroll said a majority of the those elementary students had 20-30 unexcused absences.
"Many may have 20 or 30 excused absences also, and they may have only been in school 50 days for the entire year," Carroll said.
State law mandates all cases of truancy be handled in circuit court and jurisdiction covers the entire state. If a truancy petition is filed against a student and their parents in Columbia County, it follows the family wherever they move in the state.
"Usually we transfer and I've had three cases that have transferred out of Columbia County, that the judges in those counties have had back Rule to Show Cause and the parents have done some jail time," Carroll said.
She said some of those judges have the child and parents do community service, as well as imposing jail time on parents.
Courts can impose a fine of to $5 on parents for every unexcused absence.
Carroll is scheduled to present 14 more cases to the judge Oct. 30, for Rule to Show Cause - contempt, because parents and students have failed to comply with what was ordered for truancy.
"I imagine we're going to see some more parents who will have the jail time imposed, because most of these are elementary students and the parents have to be responsible for getting them to school," she said.
More than 20 truancy cases were heard in Circuit Court this week, signaling Columbia County's has a truancy problem. And another 14 cases will be presented at the end of the month.
To compound the problem, problems with younger students being truant and tardy are increasing.
During the 2003 school year, truancy petitions were filed for 87 children out of 9,609 Columbia County students. State law mandates schools track student attendance and do everything in their power to get students that are continually absent to attend school.
Anne Carroll CQ, Columbia County school district attendance and community resource coordinator, said 22 truancy cases were presented to Circuit Court Judge Julian Collins CQ.
Historically, Columbia County has been ranked near the top in the state in terms of having truancy problems, but Carroll said the rate is being reduced.
Some of the cases were first-time offenses and parents were ordered to have their children in school with no more unexcused absences.
Eight of the cases were for back Rule to Show Cause, where the judge already had ordered parents to have their children in school with no more unexcused absences and the parents did not comply with judge's orders.
"Some parents had been ordered to attend 10 days in school with their child, some students had been ordered to do community service and they were back because they had not followed through on what the court had ordered," Carroll said. "Three of those parents were given 10 days jail time if their child has another unexcused absence. The judge is really serious about this and he's seeing the correlation between the youth we see in juvenile court and their pattern of attendance."
The 22 truancy cases presented Wednesday were filed at the end of the school year and over the summer.
"It's more than we usually have one time, but we've had 122 truancy cases filed in a year and a half," Carroll said. "And we're getting them younger. Once they hit that middle and high school level, it's harder to do anything with them."
School records show that of the 863 students that had out-of-school suspensions last year, 111 were elementary students - with the youngest offender being 6 years old.
"The percentage of students in juvenile court that have been truant, is maintaining between 80 and 87 percent," Carroll said. "It's fluctuating, but I'm seeing a direct correlation between the two. That's why it's so important to catch them early and keep them in school ... change those behaviors."
While officials are seeing younger students brought in for truancy cases, another growing problem with that age group is a large number of elementary students with excessive tardies.
"The students have been coming in 30 minutes to an hour and a half late," Carroll said.
Last year she took an elementary student who had nothing but tardies before the judge. She said the student's tardies averaged up to seven days of missed school and more than 60 days that the child had missed from his language arts class.
"This was a first-grader who has missed a third of the school year as far as language arts, which is crucial," she said. "They're not going to learn to read, write or anything if they don't get language arts. I think the key is the parents have to be held responsible. They're the legal guardians and they are accountable."
School district records show that one middle school child missed 116 days last school year and there were several elementary school children that missed more than 50 days.
Carroll said a majority of the those elementary students had 20-30 unexcused absences.
"Many may have 20 or 30 excused absences also, and they may have only been in school 50 days for the entire year," Carroll said.
State law mandates all cases of truancy be handled in circuit court and jurisdiction covers the entire state. If a truancy petition is filed against a student and their parents in Columbia County, it follows the family wherever they move in the state.
"Usually we transfer and I've had three cases that have transferred out of Columbia County, that the judges in those counties have had back Rule to Show Cause and the parents have done some jail time," Carroll said.
She said some of those judges have the child and parents do community service, as well as imposing jail time on parents.
Courts can impose a fine of to $5 on parents for every unexcused absence.
Carroll is scheduled to present 14 more cases to the judge Oct. 30, for Rule to Show Cause - contempt, because parents and students have failed to comply with what was ordered for truancy.
"I imagine we're going to see some more parents who will have the jail time imposed, because most of these are elementary students and the parents have to be responsible for getting them to school," she said.
. wrote on Jan 30, 2008 11:01 AM: