Haralson County Public School officials say they are fed up with the issue of truancy in the school district. In fact, they’re focusing in on the problem with help from the local juvenile courts system. Earlier this week, the court addressed a total of 40 families who were scheduled to appear at the Haralson County Court for violating their contracts, wherein parents or guardians promised the court that their child would not acquire any more unexcused absences from school.

A contract breach of this sort could mean harsh penalties for both parents and children, explained Ruthy Saknini-Woody, HCPS social worker and homeless coordinator. She said families that were represented in the courtroom Monday and Tuesday had children who “missed a good amount of days from school while on contract.” Saknini-Woody said she files approximately 100 truancy complaints per year, and though she’s seen a “significant improvement” with attendance in the schools over the past eight years, there are still far too many undocumented absences being found within the school system.

Therefore, the school district is working more diligently with the judicial system to strongly enforce adherence of the county school board’s daily attendance policy, which was written in cooperation with the local juvenile court, as authorized by state law.

According to state law O.C.G.A 20-2-701, “should any child absent himself from school in violation of local school system policies, the attendance officer shall provide written notice to the parent or guardian. If the truancy is not corrected, the attendance officer shall report the situation to the juvenile, superior, city or other courts having jurisdiction.”

Essentially, that measure asserts that students need to show a documented explanation from a parent or official source to verify the absence, such as a doctor’s note, which should be given following their return to school. Saknini-Woody said families who stood before the judge a few days ago violated the rules about school attendance – a move that landed them and their child a seat in court with potentially significant consequences. The court action comes after the families’ disregard of warnings that led up to their appearance.

“When a student misses three unexcused, or undocumented absences, or explained day, the system sends a letter to the parent to notify them of the child’s record of three unexcused absences,” explained Saknini-Woody. “When they reach seven, the system invites parents to community intervention, called a Truancy Treatment Team. At that point, the student and parent or guardian signs a contract that they will not miss any more unexcused days of school. This contract is binding until the student reaches 16 years old. Violation of that agreement may result in a court referral and students 13 and over may be placed on probation for 12 months. Then violation of that agreement will result in community service and “Project Target”, which is like a boot camp for violators located in Snellville, [Ga].”

She also noted that the law stops at age 16, but students who miss 10 days on the high school level are also reported to the state Driver’s License Bureau, and those with licenses and permits can get such driving credentials revoked. Meanwhile, Saknini-Woody says the parents of younger children will also face consequences if their child does not have adequate attendance.

“As far as students 12 and under who fall short of the attendance guidelines, their parents may be held accountable and placed on protective order,” she said. “This means parents are ‘on-watch’ to ensure the problem is being corrected, and they may get possible Department of Family and Children Services intervention.”

While excessive undocumented absences can be problem, Saknini-Woody said there’s usually a bigger problem from which the issue of truancy stems.

“We are convinced that the problem is not about missing school, but there’s usually an underline issue. That’s what the system tries to address with the Truancy Treatment Team. We discover issues during discussion, like family issues, academic challenges, students’ problems with their teacher and peer pressure. The team tries to address those needs and make the proper referrals,” she said.

Though unfortunate circumstances may arise amongst certain students, she contends that the absence of a few students can have wide-spread affects on the school system as a whole.

Under the federal “No Child Left Behind” Act, Georgia’s AYP plan allows elementary and middle schools to use attendance as a secondary indicator. Therefore, Saknini-Woody noted that failure to meet the guidelines for AYP could result in the system being placed on academic probation or even in danger of losing financial support from the government.

Saknini-Woody urges everyone to adopt the mind set that daily attendance is an expectation,.

“It really should become an expectation of everybody that students need to be in school when it is in session, and there needs to be documentation of when they’re absent because it’s the law. Furthermore, students and parents should understand that if students don’t attend school, they’re not going to learn. The only free thing children can get their whole life is the privilege to come to school from K through 12,” she added. “If they don’t graduate, they’re not going to get the job they need to survive in this economy, so we want to help them.”

Meanwhile, Saknini-Woody said that the school system will continue in their joint effort with the juvenile courts to combat truancy.