Transcript Attendance and Truancy Issues for Virginia Schools

VSBA Law Conference June 1, 2012
Kamala H. Lannetti
Deputy City Attorney
1





1642 Mass. Bay Colony required parents to teach
principles of religion, reading, writing and a
trade
1705 Southern states first enact training in
trades
Colonial America required training in skills and
trades through apprenticeships for orphans and
needy children – many of whom were indentured
servants
Mid 18th Century required reading and writing
mostly for biblical study
1852 Massachusetts was first to pass compulsory
annual attendance of 12 weeks for 8-14 y/os
2


1901 Indiana Supreme Court in State v. Bailey
found that the welfare of the child and the
best interests of the State require that the
State secure each child the opportunity to
acquire an education
1944 Prince v. Massachusetts U.S. Supreme
Court -the State as parens patriae may
restrict the parent’s control by requiring
school attendance, regulating the child’s
labor, and in many other ways
3




In 1900 18% of children 10-15 y/o were
employed
In southern cotton mills, 25% of workers
under 15 years old, with half of those under
12 years old
1904 National Child Labor Committee began
media campaign about poor working
conditions
1902- 1904 many northern states passed
child labor laws, but most southern states did
not
4


1916 and 1918 U.S. Congress passed Federal
Child Labor Law but the U.S. Supreme Court
declared the Act unconstitutional
1924 Congress passed a Constitutional
Amendment authorizing federal child labor
laws but most states did not ratify it
5



Great Depression led to many reforms but
most significantly the enactment of the
National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 imposed
minimum wage and maximum hours with
certain limitations on child labor
Children under 16 years old could not be
employed in manufacturing or mining, in
1949 added commercial agriculture,
transportation, communications and
telecommunications
6
• More jobs needed for adults, so
pressure to have children out of the
workforce


New manufacturing techniques replaced
manual labor done by children and required a
more educated work force.
States began to pass laws requiring more
years of education, longer school years and
more enforcement of truancy laws
7



State law requires School Boards to enforce
the compulsory attendance laws-§22.1-269
ADM- tied financial formulas
No Child Left Behind and Elementary and
Secondary Schools Act consider drop out
rates, on time graduation rates
8

8VAC20-730, et seq., in final stages of
approval
◦ Will provide the necessary definitions and
attendance data for consistent reporting to USDOE
◦ Will standardize data among 132 school divisions
◦ hthttp://register.dls.virginia.gov/vol28/iss11/v28i11.pdftp
://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/prevention/dropout_trua
ncy/improving_school_attendance.pdf
9

Admission and Exit ages

Length of school year

Enrollment requirements

Alternatives to public school

Waivers and exemptions

Enforcement

Truancy
10




Virginia Code §22.1-1
– 5y/o by 9/30 and not passed 18 y/o
Virginia Code §22.1-271.1
◦ Student = anyone who will not have attained age of 20 y/o
by start of school term
IDEIA
- student with a disability can remain in school until
22 y/o
- students under 5 years old
Exceptions:
◦ Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military
Children
11

180 days or 990 hours of instructional time
◦ 8VAC20-521-20


Carnegie credits
- 120 hours per year or 1 hour 5x per week
for 24 weeks
§22.1- 79.1
◦ King’s Dominion Law- no school before Labor Day
◦ Over 77of 132 school divisions open before then
◦ Complications with SOLs, AP exams, graduation
12

§22.1-3

§22.1-5

§22.1-254
◦ Persons who may attend school free
◦ Persons who may be allowed to attend school by paying
tuition
◦ every parent, guardian, or other person in the
Commonwealth having control or charge of any child who
will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September
30 of any school year and who has not passed the
eighteenth birthday shall, during the period of each year
the public schools are in session and for the same number
of days and hours per day as the public schools, send such
child to a public school or to a private, denominational, or
parochial school or have such child taught by a tutor or
teacher…
13


McKinney Vento Act- 42 U.S.C. §11431
Interstate Compact on Educational
Opportunity for Military Children §22.1-360

Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act

Interstate Compact on the Placement of
Children
14







Home Schooling
Religious Exemption
Private School
Virtual Schools
ISAEP
GED
Exemptions by courts
15

§16.1-334
◦ Emancipated minor
cannot be subject of
a CHINS petition
◦ Parents of
emancipated minor
are relieved of any
obligation respecting
school attendance
16


§22.1-259 Teachers to keep daily attendance
records
§22.1-258 Appoint attendance officers;
notify parents of absences
◦ “unexcused absence” parent is unaware and nonsupportive of her child’s nonattendance
◦ Reasonable effort to notify parent by telephone for
an explanation of absence
17

§22.1-260 Report children enrolled and nonenrolled
◦ w/in 10 days must provide list of name, age and
grade of all students as well as parents’ names and
addresses
◦ This becomes the basis for the average daily
membership or ADM
◦ Report the number of conferences for
nonattendance
◦ §22.1-261- Attendance officer must investigate
18

After child has failed to report for 5
scheduled school days, school must make
direct contact with parent, pupil and
attendance officer to develop a plan to
address non attendance
19


Must schedule a conference that happens
within 10 – 15 days after the last contact
Next absence results in CHINS petition filed
against pupil and petition for Parental
Participation Order filed against the parent
20
Juvenile Court Services Unit
21


No definition for truant- §22.1-267, §16.1278.5
CHINS “child in need of services”
◦ A child whose behavior, conduct or condition presents or
will result in serious threat to the well being of the child

CHINsup “child in need of supervision”
◦ habitually absent and as been offered adequate
opportunity for education, school or other agency has
made reasonable efforts to address absences and school
has provided documentation of compliance with §22.1258
22

§22.1-262 Complaint to court when parent
fails to comply with law
◦ Non-enrollment
◦ Failure to comply with compulsory attendance
◦ Refusal to participate in a plan to address
nonattendance
◦ Refusal to participate in a conference to address
nonattendance
◦ School must supply documentation of efforts
23


First Violation- Class 3 Misdemeanor- $500
fine
Subsequent Violation-Class 2 Misdemeanor
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
$1,000 and/or
6 months in jail
Can require counseling or other services
Can remove child from parental custody
Civil penalties up to $500
24


Diversion program- can defer a petition for
90 days to work with the student
Truancy plan- interdisciplinary, interagency
approach
25

HB 886 – VBOE to address chronic
absenteeism- vetoed by Governor
• HB 887- Superintendent must ensure that every
student suspended or expelled receives an
education

HB 544- Can’t suspend for truancy,
disorderly or disruptive conduct, or
technology offense
26