KINGWOOD — Allowing your children to miss school is a crime, and Preston County Schools is taking parents to court when to enforce the law.
Since the beginning of the current school year, Preston has filed 16 truancy complaints in Preston Magistrate Court. Some were dismissed, six pleaded not guilty and others are still active in the court, according to court records.
Carol Riley, attendance director for Preston County Schools, said studies show whenever students miss 10 percent of the school year, which is 18 days in West Virginia, it has a definite impact on the children.
If students aren’t able to read by third grade, it diminishes their ability to do math, Riley said. And if by sixth grade the absences continue, the child is at higher risk of not graduating from high school.
“We can’t teach them if they’re not at school,” she said. “We can’t offer special education services if they’re not at school to help them if they are deficient in an area or struggle because of the special needs.”
For example, two of the most recently filed criminal complaints allege that a couple’s 7-year-old has missed 29 days of school so far this year — 20.5 of them unexcused.
Truancies are unexcused absences. The law says 10 unexcused absences constitute truancy. There are also excused absences, such as for sickness.
Chronic absence includes both excused and unexcused absences.
“We try to do everything we can with the families to avoid filing the criminal complaints,” Riley said. “Whatever barriers keep the child from coming to school, we try to help with that.”
When complaints are filed, it’s generally because parents don’t respond to requests to meet with school staff or work to overcome the barriers, she said.
State code sets fines of $50 to $100 per offense, or day, for parents found guilty of truancy and gives magistrates the authority to require parents to attend school with their children.
Preston is using federal money obtained through the Early Literacy Campaign to combat absences, especially in the primary grades, Riley said. Flyers have been sent home about attendance. Pre-k and kindergarten teachers do an attendance plan with families when they do home visits.
Refrigerator magnets sent home have the school calendar, so parents can mark off days. Students can see how many days they have missed in their data books at school. “One or two days a month adds up,” Riley noted.
And incentives are given for students to attend. For example, any who have missed less than a set number of days may have their name placed in a drawing for a prize.
“I think our chronic absences have decreased, and our average daily attendance has increased,” Riley said. “But we still are challenged with chronic absences.”
