One step forward

In his post my classmate, Mr. Noe' Martinez, lends his support to HB 1490/SB106. a bill which aims to adjust the jurisdiction of truancy infractions. Instead of parents being sent to criminal courts, students would be referred to civil courts. Additionally the bill would establish a tiered system that school districts would need to follow before escalating the issue to the court.

I agree with Noe's point that there needs to be a holistic approach that takes into account the complexity of a given student's situation. This bill makes a reasonable attempt at doing so with the tiered system the school districts would follow. However, I think the bill goes too far in neutering the power school employees have to get the attention of less engaged parents (by removing the potential for a misdemeanor to the parents). I'm concerned this bill will setup schools to go through some long, drawn out process that ultimately has no teeth.

That said, an interesting study [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2805010/] found there are 5 components for an effective truancy reduction program which are as follows:

"(1) parent/guardian involvement, (2) a continuum of services, to include meaningful incentives, consequences and support, (3) collaboration with community resources—including law enforcement, mental health services, mentoring and social services, (4) school administrative support and commitment to keeping youth in the educational mainstream, and (5) ongoing evaluation."

This bill does seem to utilize the tiered system to get parents involved, get students in counseling, have students utilize community-based resources, and keep the school involved in the process. For these reasons I think the bill is ultimately a step in the right direction.