Friday, August 13, 1999
Truants will need doctor's note in Lebanon
BY MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — Students aren't the only ones who'll need an excuse for missing school this fall.
Educators here are cracking down on truancy among elementary students, which may mean holding their parents accountable, said Peggy McClusky, the district's director of curriculum instruction.
“We were very surprised that our attendance rate is not what it ought to be districtwide,” Mrs. McClusky said. “We said, "It's just like anything else. If you don't stop it in the first, second or third grade, you're not going to stop it.”
The district will more strictly enforce its elementary school attendance policy.
It states that after 10 days of excused or unexcused absences, parents receive a letter from the school advising that either a doctor's excuse will be required for all further absences or they must set up a conference with the principal.
If parents don't follow through with either, the case would be referred to the War ren County Juvenile Court's diversionary program, Mrs. McClusky said. Prosecutors are still studying the best possible options for punishment.
As always, students with documented medical reasons will be excused.
Educators also are feeling pressure to boost attendance rates because of the Fourth-Grade Guarantee, which takes effect July 2001. It requires students moving into the fifth grade to pass the reading section of the fourth-grade proficiency test. If they don't pass, they repeat the fourth grade.
According to the district's
1999 state report card, average attendance rates at the elementary schools were: 95.2 percent at Holbrook; 95.3 percent at Louisa Wright; 95.3 percent at Dunlavy; and 95.6 percent at Donovan Intermediate.
Mrs. McClusky wants to see those numbers increase to at least 97 percent.
Often, students in kindergarten through third grade aren't responsible for missing school.
“It's not that the little kid doesn't really want to come to school. There's some reason the parent is not sending them,” Mrs. McClusky said. “With first-graders you can say, "Get up, you're going to school!' By the third grade, those habits are developed by not going to school.”
The district asked officials from the county juvenile court to research options to further prosecute truancy cases involving elementary school children.
Mrs. McClusky said the goal is not to be punitive, but to provide more intervention and assistance to parents who are having trouble getting their kids to school.
“We hope none of them (cases) get to court,' she said.
Andrew Sievers, assistant county prosecutor in the juvenile division, said state law states parents are responsible for sending their child to school.
Mr. Sievers said he doesn't recall a truancy case involving an elementary student being brought to a hearing or trial.
“A lot of these get resolved prior to my involvement,” he said.
He plans to report back to Lebanon educators before school starts on the best options for further prosecution.
“In all these cases, the first thing you want to do is find out why the child is being truant,” Mr. Severs said. “Why are they not going to school? Is it because the bully down the street beats them up every day? Is it a family crisis? ... Or is it a fact that the parents are not requiring the child to go to school?”
Dunlavy Principal Ken Williams said he's seen an increase in the number of days kids are missing from his school, which houses kindergartners through third-graders.
“It doesn't take rocket science to find out if you look at kids who don't do well on proficiency tests, it's those who don't have high attendance rates,” he said. “Sometimes it's a problem of the parents just being able to get their kids up and get them off to school.
“We're going to keep a closer eye on the reasons students are out,” he said. “You want to establish these good habits at an early age.”
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