This article describes a new law in Ohio that decriminalizes
truancy for students. The bill has already been passed and needs only the governor’s
signature to go into effect. The law seeks to reduce counterproductive
responses to truancy, such as suspension and juvenile court involvement, which
can lead to the child missing even more school time and falling behind in their
education.
As an alternative to traditionally punitive responses to
truancy, the new law proposes using district intervention teams to identify and
intervene to root problems that can cause habitual truancy, such as family
economic problems, transportation or childcare difficulties, gang involvement,
and others. The push behind the bill is that it will make schools develop ways
to keep their kids in the classroom and provide them with promised education while
simultaneously addressing problems that inhibit children’s ability to come to school.
While this bill allows for some creativity in responding to
issues of truancy and does not condone responses that put children further
behind in their education, the article does not specify sources of funding for
the formation of intervention teams. It also does not discuss strategies for dealing
with barriers to attendance once they are identified. Finally, the article and
bill do not account for mistrust of school and court systems, family secrecy,
and other obstacles that may make it difficult to get to root causes of
truancy. However, with training, research, and community agency and resources
networks, I feel that this law can grow into a much needed initiative to prioritize providing education and focus more
holistically on meeting child and family needs.
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about this when it was being presented to the house. I think it’s a “no brainer” to decriminalize truancy for students. I’ve never understood the thought process of keeping students out of school as a punishment for being out of school, this generates even more risk factors once the student becomes involved in the juvenile justice system. This also creates more time away from academic instruction and possible supportive personnel. I do think it would be great for schools to have an intervention team to be able to address truancy cases, however, school staff’s time is already stretched very thin. I think it would be important to identify the funding sources and the intervention strategies before fully implementing the new law. However, I very much agree that this has the potential to grow into a much needed initiative to prioritize education while focusing on the child and family’s needs.
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThis seems as a "no brainer" to me as well, although I realize not everyone has that view. The school-to-prison pipeline has grown off of young kids being sent to prisons for truancy. This time in prison has been proven to increase the likelihood of future criminal activity. While I understand the concern for funding and organization of the programs to keep the kids in school, this law has to be the first step towards this change in the education system. This is just another example of an issue that has been criminalized rather than viewed as a cause of a lack of support and resources within the family's and individual's life.
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThis also seems like a "no brainer" for me as well. I remember working in a district a couple years ago and getting so frustrated and 'up in arms' with the dean of students or assistant pricipals when they wanted to suspend a kid that hadn't been at school in a week and finally made it back into the building for a couple of days and then skipped a class.
This new law is going to put a lot more back onto the schools and the school officals to figure out what can be done in house and what is best for the student, which will hopefully build healthy relationships between students, school officals and parents.