Truancy program changes

BENTON — Recent discussions between Regional Superintendent of Schools Matt Donkin and State's Attorney Evan Owens have led to changes in how truancy cases in Franklin County are scheduled in the court system.
The purpose of the change is to better emphasize the importance of school attendance and the potential penalties that can be given to parents and students of truant youth, a news release states. It is also hoped that this emphasis on school attendance will help prevent something else that often seems to be a result of truancy — a life in and out of the criminal justice system.
"The ROE staff and the state's attorney's office talk regularly about how the process can be improved," stated Matt Donkin, superintendent of ROE 21. "State's Attorney Evan Owens and I talked about some potential adjustments and he presented them to circuit court officials, who agreed to the change."
Truancy cases have mostly been handled by in the regular juvenile docket. The new plan will put truancy cases in their own juvenile docket.
Donkin stated he and Owens have agreed that one positive change is to better focus on these cases that can be a gateway to future legal trouble.
"Another positive is that this docket will be much shorter, which should mean less time missed at school on days when the student is in court, instead of having them wait on the other cases to be heard," Donkin said.
Donkin points out the court system is the last step in the truancy process, noting, "It really begins at home when parents value education and its impact on their child's success and see the need for them to be in school."
Local teachers and principals take roll every day and contact students who aren't in attendance. They send letters home and they meet with the parents of kids that are truant. When a student is deemed to on the path to miss 5 percent of school days in a calendar year, they should be referred to the ROE and its truancy staff.
For the ROE, there is a three-step process. Step one involves the ROE sending a letter to the parents notifying and informing them of the potential penalties if the student continues to miss. At step two, the truant officer will meet at the school with the student, their parents and school staff members to figure out what the problems are keeping a student from attending. If things still do not improve, step 3 comes into play. This involves the parents and student being issued a summons to meet at the courthouse with the Truancy Review Board. This group includes the state's attorney, the ROE, probation staff, other school administrators and social service agencies. They again look to remedies to the truancy problem while also pointing out that the next step is to refer either the parents or the students for charges.
Like in all cases during the court process, defendants are allowed to have attorneys present and the state's attorney's office and the court officials may apply the various charges and penalties that are in the Compulsory Attendance law.
During this school year, statistics from Donkin show his office has sent 92 step one letters, dealt with 46 cases at step two and met with 26 students at the Truancy Review Board level. The state's attorney's office is dealing with four new truancy petitions this year while also monitoring past year's cases.
"Although the process can be frustrating for those of us involved, we have to keep in mind that our ultimate goal is to get our kids to school so that they have a chance to learn. Though we see improvements in numbers at each level, we can't say we've been successful until we get all of our kids in school. We will continue to work with the state's attorney's office, the schools, and all of our other partners until that goal is met. If successful, I hope to talk with officials in our other counties about a similar strategy," Donkin concluded.