Truancy policy showing results, officials say

The Cape Girardeau School District's attendance policy, implemented in 2010, has made parents realize school is important and helped raise the percentage of students coming to school, assistant superintendent for academic services Sherry Copeland said.

Fewer warning letters are being sent, as are the number of parents pleading guilty to the misdemeanor offense of not ensuring their children are in school.

Assistant Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney Frank Miller said the truancy policy is a cooperative effort of the Cape Girardeau School District, the prosecuting attorney's office and the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

It holds parents responsible for their students not attending school. If a student is not attending school, the school district sends letters to their parents after three, five and seven days missed. On the 10th day, the district turns a form over to a school resource officer who takes it to the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Copeland said.

On the 10th day, in addition to receiving a letter from the school district, the parent or guardian also receives a letter on prosecuting attorney letterhead, hand-delivered by investigator John L. Volkerding, saying the child is in violation of the school's attendance policy and the parent or guardian could face a misdemeanor charge of violating the compulsory school attendance law, a C misdemeanor.

Miller said penalties can be 15 days in jail and/or a $300 fine. He added some people have been placed on probation for a period of up to two years and required to send their child to school. Under the compulsory attendance law, students must attend school between the ages of 5 and 16, Miller said. On a related note, kindergarten in Missouri is not required, but if a parent enrolls a child and they start missing "a crazy amount of days," they could be subject to compulsory attendance law, he said.

In 2011, charges were dismissed against two parents charged under the policy, according to a Southeast Missourian article.

"First-time offenders are typically subjected to a fine," Miller said. He added there have been some people who opted for jail time, or were put in jail for failure to appear. "That's not the norm and that's not what we're shooting for."

"The ultimate goal is not to punish the parents; it's to get the children in the classroom and get them learning," Miller said.

Of 82 letters hand-delivered the first year of the policy, Miller said, seven people pleaded guilty to the C misdemeanor; for the 2011-2012 school year, 80 letters were delivered and two people pleaded guilty; 77 letters were delivered in 2012-2013 and three people pleaded guilty. What those letters do is eliminate any excuse parents might have.

If the child misses more days after that final warning notice, Miller said, they can expect to be issued a summons by the Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Court to appear in court. Miller added that once parents are put on notice their child is missing too much school, he's required to bring in school administrators to testify, along with the investigator and school resource officer.

"The handful of times I've done that, they've wound up pleading guilty," Miller said.

Cape Girardeau Police Department public information officer Darin Hickey said in an email to the Southeast Missourian that the police are notified after the school and prosecutor's office have sent the letters. "And at that point, we are notified to generate the start of the legal process to look at criminal charges," Hickey wrote.

Copeland said parents now understand the policy after living under it for four years.

Additionally, as part of its annual performance reports issued for each district, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education uses attendance as one of its standards. Those attendance requirements have changed in 2013.

"Keep in mind that the requirement changed to 90 percent of the students [having to be in school] 90 percent of the time. Before that, it was just the attendance rate; there's a huge difference," Copeland said. The district hit 89.8 percent when the yearly performance report was issued in August.

If there were no attendance policy, Copeland said, "you would have children missing school all the time."

" ... If they're not at school, they're not learning. We had to put procedures and processes in place to make sure students show up for school," Copeland said.

She added she thinks the effort has been worth it.

"It's a way that we can make parents realize school's important," she said. "Our letters go out by email and snail mail; parents have ample opportunity to come to the school building" to talk to the principal about "what's causing their student to miss."

"I think parents truly do care, and I think there's a certain faction of parents out there that don't feel like they have control of the children. It just makes it hard. We work with the parents as much as possible, whether it's through administrators," social workers or parent liaisons, Copeland said.

"We try to have those wraparound services. It comes down to how can we help you get your child to school, and sometimes it does require legal action. It's that wake-up call to parents that we truly care about their children and we want them in school and learning," she added.

Asked if there is a target percentage the district wants to reach attendance-wise, Copeland said she wants all students attending school, and the community as a whole can help. One way is doctors and dentists setting up appointments after school for children.

"We need everybody in the community to say, 'No it's not OK to miss school. You need to be in school; you need to learn. Therefore, you can come to my office after school,'" Copeland said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.