Truancy court coming to the high school
To fight habitual truancy among its students, Maurice Bowling Middle School agreed to act as a pilot school for truancy court during the 2005-2006 school year.
That decision appears to have been the right one — and one that will be replicated at the high school level this fall.
With the implementation of a truancy court within the school, MBMS saw its attendance rates jump .76 points during the last year, much of that in the second semester after the program was set up.
MBMS principal Jo Wallace said she has not only seen improvement from students in the program, but also from other students who realize the administration is taking attendance seriously.
Here’s how it works. Truancy court is set up as a 10-week diversion program. Instead of habitually truant students going to district court, they — along with their parents — attend weekly meetings at the school where the students’ attendance, behavior and academic standing is reviewed.
Wallace explained that both students and parents are required to fill out paperwork that says they agree to do certain things such as come to meetings and be in school. If they fail to comply, parent and child are sent automatically to face District Judge James Purcell.
Only one of the 10 students in truancy court last year failed to complete the program. However, Wallace reported that student was still able to recover enough credits to advance to the high school as a freshman. All students involved improved their grades.
At the weekly meetings, Wallace and other school and district administrators discuss with parents what the school can do to get their children in school. With one family, Wallace said it was as simple as the school maintenance crew fixing the family’s dryer.
With others, the dropout prevention coordinator, Charles Hagg, helped them pick up necessary medication. “We provided a lot of resources for parents and children,” Wallace said.
Due to the program’s tremendous success at the middle school, OCHS will implement a truancy court in the upcoming school year. Details of the high school’s program have not yet been decided upon, but it will be similar in structure to the middle school’s.

Attendance calculations changing
Every minute counts.
Literally.
With a new school year will come a new method of calculating attendance at Owen County schools. Rather than tardy, half- or whole-day absences, students will be held accountable for the actual percentage of time spent at school.
A student who misses 60 or fewer minutes during the day — whether it be at the beginning, end or combination of the two — will be considered tardy. After 60 minutes, the time is added and recorded as a percentage missed of the day.
The previous year’s truancy statutes will remain in place, classifying three cumulative days of unexcused absence as truant and six cumulative unexcused absences as habitually truant. For example, missing 60 percent of one day for an unexcused absence and 40 percent of another day unexcused would equal one full day’s unexcused absence.
As always, if a student is absent, parents will need to send a signed note to school within three days of the student’s return to school after the absence. This applies to tardies, too, and a note must be sent even if the parent noted the reason for absence in a sign-in/sign-out log at the time of check-in or check-out. If a note is not received within three days, the absence will be recorded as unexcused.
In addition to the new calculation policy, students will now be granted one day’s excused absence for the military deployment of a parent or guardian and one day when a parent or guardian returns from military deployment.
Parents with children in the Owen County School System should watch their mailboxes for a letter from Director of Pupil Personnel, Rob Stafford, regarding the new attendance policy.

Administrators touching bases with absent students
In the past students have been able to get by with missing multiple days of school.
Not anymore.
Two years ago the school district was awarded a grant which made it possible to hire a dropout prevention coordinator. The position was taken over last year by Charles Hagg, a former teacher at Owen County High School.
Hagg doesn’t just work with high school students, though. Children as young as elementary school are monitored for truancy. If a child is not at school, they will be called or may even get a home visit.
In addition to seeing students in the schools — in classrooms, at lunch — Hagg estimates he made 20 to 25 home visits per month during the 2005-2006 school year. “It’s about doing anything you can to get kids in school,” he said.
It was the personal contact that he believes made the difference. “Students start to realize education is important and there are ramifications for missing school,” Hagg said.
The strategy is proving successful, too. Dropout rates at Owen County High School dropped from 6.32 percent in 2004 to 3.01 percent in 2005 with the hiring of a dropout prevention coordinator. The program is currently ending a two-year cycle with hopes of continuing with grant money for another two years.

Click Here to Go Back to Front