Attendance and Truancy Issues for Virginia Schools

1. Attendance and Truancy Issuesfor Virginia Schools VSBA Law Conference June 1, 2012 Kamala H. Lannetti Deputy City Attorney

2. History • 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

3. Legal support • 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

4. Why Compulsory Attendance? • 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

5. Federal Child Labor Law • 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

6. Fair Labor Standards Act • 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

7. Less need for cheap labor • 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

8. Why do School Boards care? • 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

9. VDOE New Regulations • 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_truancy/improving_school_attendance.pdf

10. Components of Compulsory Attendance Laws • Admission and Exit ages • Length of school year • Enrollment requirements • Alternatives to public school • Waivers and exemptions • Enforcement • Truancy

11. Admission and Exit Ages • 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

12. Length of School Year • 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

13. Enrollment • §22.1-3 • Persons who may attend school free • §22.1-5 • Persons who may be allowed to attend school by paying tuition • §22.1-254 • 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…

14. Statutes affecting enrollment • 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

15. Waivers and Exemptions • Home Schooling • Religious Exemption • Private School • Virtual Schools • ISAEP • GED • Exemptions by courts

16. Emancipated Minor • §16.1-334 • Emancipated minor cannot be subject of a CHINS petition • Parents of emancipated minor are relieved of any obligation respecting school attendance

17. Enforcement • §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 non-supportive of her child’s nonattendance • Reasonable effort to notify parent by telephone for an explanation of absence

18. Duties of Attendance Officer • §22.1-260 Report children enrolled and non-enrolled • 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

19. Failure to report for 5 days • 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

20. Absent 1 day after conference • 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

21. Court Intervention Juvenile Court Services Unit

22. Truancy • No definition for truant- §22.1-267, §16.1-278.5 • 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 §22.1-258

23. Parental Participation Order • §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

24. Penalties • 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

25. Juvenile Court Services Unit • Diversion program- can defer a petition for 90 days to work with the student • Truancy plan- interdisciplinary, interagency approach

26. Legislation • 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