TALLADEGA COUNTY — Talladega County Circuit Judge Julian King delivered the results of an extensive six months survey of truancy rates and compliance in the Talladega County School System to the board during a regular meeting Thursday night. The results, he said, were very troubling.By law and by board policy, the first unexcused absence for a student should trigger notification of the parent. After the fifth unexcused absence, the students and parents must attend a meeting in juvenile court, and after a seventh unexcused absence, a petition in juvenile court is to be filed against either the student or the parent, depending on the student’s age.
According to figures provided by the county board and the state department of education, in 2004-2005, the county system had an enrollment of 7,630, with 888 students missing a total of 12,163 days.
The following school year, enrollment was 7,759, and 762 students with seven or more absences missed a total of 10,297 days of class. In the past school year, with an enrollment of 7,778, there were 1,083 students with seven or more absences missing a total of 15,989 days.
“Truancy increased from the ’05-’06 school year to the ’06-’07 school year by 42 percent,” King pointed out. “The average days for each truant student for the ’06-’07 school year was 14.67 percent.”
These figures do not reflect the numbers of unexcused absences by students with fewer than seven, or excused absences.
The truly alarming statistic, however, came from the county juvenile court.
During calendar 2005, the county school system sought a total of five truancy petitions. That jumped to 14 the following year, but was back down to nine for calendar 2007, the last year available.
There were no records of any parents ever having been called in to juvenile court during the period.
And the problem is not limited to high school students. King’s report also pointed out that some 315 kindergarten through sixth grade students had seven or more unexcused absences last year.
“We have a saying in the justice system,” King said. “It goes ‘rules and laws not enforced become rules and laws no more.’ And enforcing these rules and laws is easy. You just do it. George Sims (the district judge who handles juvenile cases) has told me he hasn’t had any complaints, but says he is willing to work with everyone involved to address this problem. Cutting truancy reduces crime, it lowers your dropout rate. And I’ll be back, with more facts and figures, in the next few months. We need to shine that beacon on your crest into some dark, secret places.”
Board chairman Mike Turner said, “We appreciate Judge King’s dedication to this issue. I know he sees the results of it daily.”
Superintendent Dr. Cindy Elsberry said, “He (King) and I have been working, like he said, for several months on the truancy issue, and I, just like he is, (am) concerned about truancy and have been concerned for quite some time. To be able to address it appropriately, it will take both the schools and the juvenile justice system working in concert, and that is what I have been trying to do.”
