Saturday, February 23, 2008

Habitual truancy down in Los Lunas

Officials working with 4-H parents about letters sent when kids attend fairs

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas During the last school year, more than 1,400 students within the Los Lunas School District had 10 or more unexcused absences — meaning 34 percent of the district's student population exceeded the state and district's truancy standards.

But, according to Joe Bruno, the district's truancy liaison, this year's numbers, so far, demonstrate that parents are getting the message and making sure that their children are going to school. The numbers show that from the beginning of this school year in August until December, Bruno and his staff have identified 268 students district wide that have 10 or more unexcused absences.

As the Los Lunas School District continues to enforce truancy laws, Bruno, along with Desi Garcia, the district's director of security, have reached out to parents of students who are involved in the county's 4-H program and have missed numerous days of school because of annual events.

Garcia and Bruno met with three parents and the county's 4-H extension agent recently to explain the truancy rules and what that means for them and their children. Because 4-H isn't a designated school activity or doesn't fall under the other six categories of excuses absences, these students will continue to be considered to have an unexcused absence.

Eileen Cosper of Los Lunas and Todd and Esther Emond of Bosque Farms say their kids, all of who are in 4-H, miss at least eight days during the first month of the school year because of the county and state fairs. They say while they understand the truancy policy, they don't feel it's right that they are categorized with other parents who allow their children to miss class.

"4-H isn't a school connected function, and when your kids go off to these events and you call the school like you're supposed to do, it still kicks off on the computer as an unexcused absence with contact," Garcia explained. "The school sites, attendance clerks and school principals don't have the authority to override that. We get a lot of good parents who come to us telling us that their kids are not ditching and are actually at a 4-H event."

According to the Los Lunas Schools Truancy Plan, students may receive an excused absence for seven different reasons: a doctor's appointment, illness, a death in the family, a religious commitment, a diagnostic commitment, extenuating circumstances, as agreed to by the administration prior to an absence, and approved school activities.

The truancy policy states that after a student has had three unexcused absences, a letter will be sent to parents informing them of their child's absences and asking them to contact the school immediately. If a student continues to be truant, and accrues five unexcused absences in a 20-day period, a second letter will be sent home. Parents will then be asked to attend a meeting with school personnel to discuss the absences and possible interventions.

Bruno said parents whose children have five or more unexcused absences will be required to attend a truancy prevention workshop where they will receive information about truancy laws from the district attorney's office, juvenile probation, magistrate court and Youth Development Incorporated and the school district.

If these interventions are unsuccessful and the student has seven unexcused absences, he or she will be referred to the truancy office. The truancy officers will review the case file, set up meetings with parents and perform home visits.

The policy states that the truancy officer will monitor the student by having the student and parent sign an attendance contract and that they will be monitored daily. The truant officer will visit with the student once a week.

If the student fails to abide by the contract or reaches 10 or more unexcused absences, a certified letter will be mailed to the parent informing them of the "habitual truancy" of the student. A referral may then be made to juvenile probation, which may refer the case to the district attorney's office for prosecution in magistrate court.

"We put together a system to try and reach out to those parents who really don't want to make the effort to get their children to school — which doesn't mean you guys," Garcia said to the 4-H parents. "But at the same time, you're getting these nasty letters saying that we're going to prosecute you and you'll be held criminally liable."

Bruno says his office sends letters off every day, and in return, he receives between 25 to 30 calls a day from parents, some who are irate, complaining that the school is going after their children. Both Garcia and Bruno explained to the parents that while they understand the reasons their children are missing school, there's no exception in the state law or in the district's policy that would exempt 4-H activities as an unexcused absence.

"We don't have any control over what state law does; we're just trying to enforce what state law has written," Garcia said. "What we're doing is trying is get the word out to the community. If you do get a letter, contact the truancy department and they'll work with you. It's more about educating parents than anything else."

"What concerns me was that you keep telling me that for our situation is that we're not exempt from the law, which I don't think we're exempt, because 4-H is a precursor to FFA, which is a school program," said Eileen Cosper. "I just want an answer — black and white — what do I need to do to fix this? I don't want to get these letters anymore."

Garcia explained that 4-H parents probably wouldn't be able to fix this unless they go through their state legislators and change state law. He advised the parents that if they continue to receive letters, to let Bruno know what's going on, and he will work with them.

"Truancy is complicated, and the dropout rate in this community is outrageous," Garcia said. "We're pushing 48 percent this year. We understand that there are extenuating circumstances; all we're asking is that when your group gets these letters, don't get upset, just communicate with us."

"4-H is that it's been around forever, and nobody will argue content of 4-H, and we don't have to defend that. And nobody's going to argue the content of truancy policy," said parent Todd Emond. "It's like, what can we do as a community to get together and solve this because it does lead into FFA? I do believe that the letters are getting people's attention. "

"I think it's good what you guys are doing because there are a lot of kids out here who are skipping school, and when I see them, I call and report it," Esther Emond said.

Garcia said the district's consistency regarding truancy is paying off and he hopes that parents will realize that their children's education is important.

"We are making a difference — it's slow, but as you can tell, within a year's time frame, the numbers have dropped tremendously.

"We support 4-H; it's a kid-based program," he added. "We support your concerns, we support your issues and we're just right now trying to get the word out."

"We just really want you guys to know that we genuinely care about the kids," Bruno added. "Our concerns are with the kids themselves. Yes, we have to enforce this, but we also want to make sure ... anything that we can do for our kids is beneficial. It's a slow process, but it's working.

"All we're really asking for is parents to educate themselves about truancy law. We want to ensure that these kids graduate and get a good, quality education."

E-mail this story Printer-friendly version