Capitolwire: New legislative report tackles student truancy. 

Capitolwire: New legislative report tackles student truancy. 

By Robert Swift
Capitolwire.com Staff Reporter

HARRISBURG (April 22) – Lawmakers should consider creating a more graduated response for dealing with students considered habitually truant from school, according to recommendations in a report by a legislative research agency. 

The recent report by the Joint State Government Commission looks at how a state truancy law enacted in 2106 is working in practice. 

A student is truant if they have three or more days of unexcused absences during the current school year, according to the state Education Department. Having six or more days of unexcused absences brings the label of habitually truant. 

This legal definition was established under Act 138 of 2016.

“By statute, a student with seven unexcused absences will be treated the same as a student with 45 to 60 unexcused absences even though the barriers these students are facing may be of entirely different magnitudes,” the report said.

The report suggests that schools be given more time to identify and mitigate truant behavior through school attendance improvement plans and other steps before involving county child welfare agencies and magisterial district judges (MDJ) in a case. 

“A graduated response for truancy would escalate only severe cases of truancy to child welfare or MDJ involvement after the other options have been exhausted,” the report said.

The report comes amid national concern over chronic student absenteeism, involving both unexcused and excused absences, being at unprecedented levels four years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Although it has been four years since the COVID-19 pandemic first closed schools throughout the US, the education system continues to struggle with numerous ongoing issues, chronic absenteeism being one of the most prevalent,” the report said. 

A New York Times article published last month indicated that high absenteeism is hindering efforts to compensate for learning loss during the pandemic when students took their lessons remotely. 

The report lists truancy rates and regular attendance rates for schools from the 2018-19 through 2022-23 academic years. 

Act 138 set a truancy definition for the first time. After three unexcused absences, schools must send home a notice outlining next steps including possible penalties such as fines. After six unexcused days, parents must attend a school attendance improvement conference.

An optional penalty for a truant student is suspension of their driver’s license. 

The goals of Act 138 are to preserve family unity as truancy issues are addressed, avoid having a child sent to foster care, and use parental confinement as a last resort, according to an American Civil Liberties Union guide for judges. 

Other report recommendations call for: 

-- Providing state funding so schools can hire people focused solely on truancy services. 

-- Expanding existing Student Assistance Programs to address truancy.

-- Involving Intermediate Units in truancy response. 

-- Providing more ongoing truancy education for magisterial district judges. 

-- Improving communication among parties involved.

The commission had the help of an advisory committee for this report which is a follow up to a report issued in 2015.