Truancy Law In Texas

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I am Emily Patino, a current student of Austin Community College. I believe that
changes to the current truancy law will significantly improve attendance at schools in Austin,
Texas. The current truancy law in Texas states that if a student has three to four unexcused
absences in the period of four weeks, he or she is then sent to court for a hearing.
In San Antonio the school district and the court have been working together to improve
attendance. One of the many reasons for wanting to improve attendance is due to the result of
fewer funds over time. Their program has reduced the number of students facing charges for
truancy by almost half. Truancy filings in San Antonio’s biggest school district have fallen from
five thousand eight hundred …show more content…

One of the many ways the city is keeping students out of court is by having “parent
intervention forums”. The forum is a contract where the parent and the student both sign,
which can lead to the truancy case to be dropped if he or she abides by the terms listed on the
contract. The forum is customarily comprised of avoiding any further absences, predominantly
meant for those who have accumulated enough unexcused absences to be truant. Supporters
have said it’s time they stop treating students as criminals, most of which might not have been
their fault for missing school. Often times the problem is that the family is low on income so the
child has to help out financially. How is someone supposed to be going to school early in the
morning and coming home late at night from work and still have time to do homework.
San Antonio has a very different perspective on how to address the truancy law
compared to many other cities. They are trying something new hoping the new method
progresses. “We want them to start thinking about their goals,” says Alma Lozano. Alma
Lozano is the prosecutor on the case of a young boy in the San Antonio district, who if had
lived in any other city but San Antonio, would be facing conviction for truancy. The boys …show more content…

Nobody was there to tell him that what he was doing was wrong. Since he
was lucky enough to be in the San Antonio district the judge decides to not file a report of
truancy conviction, but rather tries to find the root of the problem. The prosecutor talks to the
mother and tries to get her more involved in the young boy's life.
In the court the judges try as much as possible to steer clear from treating truancy as a
conviction. They believe the way to make attendance rates go up is to give the students a
reason that would make them want to go to school. They do that by making the students set a
goal for themselves, offering programs to help them better themselves and even helping the
students look into potential colleges. Although the court, from time to time file for truancy, but
it's seldom done.
Another effective program taking role in the municipal court in San Antonio, is using the
“parental shadowing” technique. Which is where the parent shadows the student in school so
the parent gets a feel of what the student goes thru on a day-to-day basis. With all that being
said action is taking place in San Antonio and they are having a positive outcome by doing so.
Progress has been reported and attendance rates have gone up by .5 percent, which might

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