Counting the Truants

Abstract

Perfect attendance. But for one day of third grade, I would have had perfect attendance from kindergarten through high school graduation. I missed that single day because my parents made me stay home. Getting up and going to school was, for me, an act of self-preservation. I was sure that, if I missed any new material, I would get so far behind that I'd never catch up. It was entirely my choice. Sick or healthy, I was at my desk. While Huckleberry Finn's aversion to attending school falls at one end of the spectrum, and my compulsion falls at the other, most students are somewhere in between. When students don't make a choice that places them somewhere in my vicinity, parents usually help them make it. If parents don't follow through or if they're unsuccessful, the school usually steps in. And if that doesn't work, state law asserts itself. MORE THAN 'BE THERE OR BE SQUARE' Compulsory attendance laws help to ensure both that educational services are provided and that students take advantage of those services. These laws set minimum and maximum ages for school attendance. For example, if in Alabama students must begin to attend school at age 7 and continue attending until the age of 16, the mandatory number of years of education is nine. Twelve states require nine years of education; 18 states require 10; eight states require 11; eight require 12; and four states and the District of Columbia require students to attend school for a total of 13 years. The minimum ages range from 5 to 8 years old, with the highest number of states (24) requiring attendance to begin at age 6. Twenty-eight states require students to attend school until they reach the age of 16; 17 states set 18 as the school-leaving age. Between 1984 and 2005, 14 states raised the upper age limit for compulsory attendance in order to keep students in schools longer. TRUANCY AND HABITUAL TRUANCY If students choose not to attend school, however, at what point are they found to be truant? For many years, most state laws did not specify the number of times a student must be absent without an excuse before legal sanctions are enforced. Over the past decade, though, a growing number of states have begun to explicitly define truancy--or require their districts to define it. And some have even established guidelines for when a student should be designated a truant. In Arizona, for example, truancies are defined as unexcused absences for at least one class period during a school day. Habitually students are those for at least five school days during a school year. To be in California a student has to be absent without a valid excuse for three full days in one school year, or absent without a valid excuse for more than any 30-minute period during a single school day on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof. And such absences must be reported to the attendance supervisor or to the superintendent. A student is deemed to be a habitual truant if he or she has been reported three or more times during a school year and if the attendance officer has made a conscientious effort to hold a conference with a parent or guardian. Whew! That's some serious record-keeping. In Colorado, four unexcused absences in one month or 10 unexcused absences during any school year make a student a truant. INCREASING ENFORCEMENT States such as Virginia have attempted to put more teeth into their attendance laws. In 2004, the Virginia legislature removed a restriction on the court's use of contempt power in enforcing compulsory school attendance and parental responsibility. The revised law clarifies and reinforces the court's authority to order the child or the parent or both into programs, such as extended-day programs, summer school, or other educational programs, and into treatment, such as counseling. In October 2005, the state board of education in Louisiana reestablished Truancy Assessment and Service Centers, which had previously targeted low-income families, as a means to identify, assess, and intervene to ensure K-6 students attend school regularly. …