Timberlane looks to target truancy Superintendent considering partnership with court system
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
PLAISTOW — Timberlane officials are considering the possibility of holding court in school to help them cut down on students skipping class.
The Timberlane Regional School Board recently voted to hire a truant officer, but the district's intervention might not stop there.
Superintendent Richard La Salle is also exploring the possibility of partnering with the state family court system to see if it could hold court at the high school once a week or initiate a fine for parents who repeatedly fail to send their children to class. If it did so, Timberlane would be the first school in this area to take this step.
"This is a last resort," La Salle said. "Our administrators work very hard."
Truancy — an unexcused absence from class — becomes habitual at 20-1/2 absences, said Charles Coker, Timberlane's director of secondary education. If a parent doesn't know why a student is out, or the administration doesn't agree with a parent's reason, the school also considers the student truant.
So far this year, there are 13 students at the high school who fall into that category, Coker said. That's down from 28 students last year and 33 the year before, he said. But those figures could still change before the school year is over.
"Those people could use significant interventions," he said.
Both La Salle and Coker have worked in districts where the court system has been involved.
La Salle said while he worked in Nashua, parents who didn't send frequently absent kids to school were fined $200 for each day the student missed.
Coker said his former school district in St. Louis held family court in the school once a week. That seemed to drive the message home very quickly, he said.
Sarah Browning, who handles attendance and discipline issues for the state Department of Education, said a setup like this with the court system would be done on a district-by-district basis. But any school that has a frequently truant student can file a Child in Need of Services petition in juvenile court and bring everyone involved in front of a judge.
"While that isn't often the first step, I wouldn't characterize it as uncommon," she said.
The practice of bringing the court hearing into the school would be a good use of community resources and could work as a model for other schools if it were to work out for Timberlane, Browning said.
"In this day and age, we need to think outside the box and be creative," she said.
Currently at Timberlane, the only tools administrators have to combat truancy are after-school detentions, Saturday detentions, counseling from guidance and suspension. But Coker said suspension is not an appropriate solution to those who skip school.
Truancy is mostly a high school problem, and isn't as much of an issue in the lower level schools, Coker said.
Elementary school parents always call in when their children are sick, and only a few don't send their child to school "appropriately," he said. The same goes at the middle school, he said, where most students haven't figured out how to disappear on their own yet.
Timberlane has had $1,100 in its budget for a truant officer position for a few years now, but never hired anyone to fill it. La Salle is looking for someone who would work on a contractual basis and do mostly home visits to try to get families back on track. He'd like to bring someone on board as soon as possible.
The truant officer — who would have either a counseling or law enforcement background — could occasionally use the "old-fashioned" method of grabbing students off the streets and driving them back to school, he said.
But officials want this person to meet with parents of the students who miss the most school and help them get compliance from their children, La Salle said. It could be that there is a separate issue, like addiction, and the officer would help those parents find resources to help.
The truant officer could also file a Child in Need of Services petition in juvenile court, asking the court to intervene, he said.
If a student is missing a lot of school, it's usually for one of two reasons, La Salle said. Either the child is out of control and delinquent, or the child is being raised by an irresponsible parent, he said.
A judge could interpret that in many ways, but, either way, four hearings would have to be held. It could be a benefit to have those held in the school so administrators don't have to leave the building, Coker said.
Other school districts in the area have truant officers, but none has an agreement with the court like the one Timberlane is considering.
Keith Pfeiffer, superintendent of the Sanborn Regional School District, said he uses the police chiefs in Kingston and Newton, as well as the school resource officer, as truant officers. While that system works well, he was intrigued by the idea of bringing the court system into the school.
"That would be a nice idea," Pfeiffer said. "Typically, we go to Rockingham County in Brentwood, which is not too far from us."
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24 comments:
One of the many problems that I have with this, is this comment;
or the administration doesn't agree with a parent's reason, the school also considers the student truant.
By what right can the school enforce THEIR wishes OVER that of the parents?
What has happened to PARENTAL RIGHTS?
They want to expand the police state into the school system ap'parent'ly.
This would be my opinion and just simply that...But i do feel that society today tends to make excuses for everything people do. No one is held accountable for their actions..I
also do feel that some and i am not saying all, but some parents will ":cover" for their children to protect them...Now as a parent it is our nature and responsibility to protect our children. But I feel it goes a little to far sometimes and these children are not learning responsibility for their actions...Now im sure within reason is what this article is saying. Take a look at some of the reasons children miss school..then you might feel differently... Thank-you
Let me pretend for a moment that I don't believe the real solution is repealing all compulsory attendance laws.
Until the law is changed parents need to stop acting like attendance is optional.
Parents who take their kids out of school to go to Disney World or a week of skiing are breaking the law. such absence are not considered "excused" under any reasonable reading. If I were a teacher, I would never allow such students to make up any work or tests. I would go out of my way to schedule two or three exams if I was told a student was out for a "family vacation."
I must admit I disagree with fining parents $200 a day. Generally these are the parents least to afford and will probably never be able to pay such fines.
Without compulsory attendance laws, the school does not have to waste money chasing down kids to stupid to know they have no future without an education.
And when the NCLB mandate that 100% of students score proficient or higher kicks in 2014, the school can just expel all under performing students.
Yes but what you are missing is that there are NO hard and fast standards at Timberlane!
Students are generally allowed to make up work that they failed to hand in, right up until grades close., usually with no penalty!
They are teaching kids that deadlines are merely warnings, and they will always be allowed to skate by.
How do you feel about the fact that a GPA of only 2.8 is required to make HONOR ROLL?
2.8 is barely a C!
check this out
http://www.psk12.com/rating/USthreeRsphp/STATE_NH_level_High_CountyID_0_year_1998_start_51.html
Timberlane ranks 63rd out of 77 high schools in the state
Just letting you know- the website rating the NH Schools is great (Thanks) but the data is 1998- A bit obsolete. You can order the updated subscription to get the most current data which is updated until 2006. I can only hope the statistics improve. Also, I cannot believe that a 2.8 GPA has achieved honor roll. Where are our standards and Where's the honor in a C?????
Anonymous said...
check this out
http://www.psk12.com/rating/USthreeRsphp/STATE_NH_level_High_CountyID_0_year_1998_start_51.html
Timberlane ranks 63rd out of 77 high schools in the state
You conveniently leave out the fact that the ranking you cite is 10 years old. How about some current data?
once again...i look at things differently..Its not the family vacations that are the problem...I also dont believe every year a child should be out of school for a week for a vacation...But if this child has no problems with attendance and they can make up the work.. taking sometime out is not a major problem..thats not where i see the problem...there are children that miss several days of school a week consistently. Here is where the problem lays..If the parents are not going to step up and do what needs to be done..Then thats when i believe the law should...My opinion...thank-You
Mark, one thing that you're missing is that there are tons of parents that need to forced to get their kids' butts into school; that's when making the school enforce their wishes over that of the parents is the only responsible route to go.
Does this mean that I can't take my kids out of school anymore to help on the family farm...?
;-)
Will the truancy officer also go after teachers not at school? For one of my kids teachers it has becomce a game since April. I no longer ask my kids what they learned today but if the teacher was in class today. Teacher was out most of April, and quite often in May. I was told this teacher is great but how would I know if teacher is never in class.
To the blog owner:
Just wondering, doesn't the death of Peter Lewis merit a dedicated article on this blog?
Yesterday the Eagle Tribune published an article about him, and now as of today there is a formal obituary.
2.8 for honor roll? What has happened?
When I was there, all B's for honor roll, more A's than B's for high honors and All A's fore highest honors.
There absolutely should be penalties for late work. At the school my children attend the penalty is one full grade reduction, even for 1 day late. The curriculum is rigorous and one full grade ahead of regular public schools.
Kids that are chronically absent do not care. Nothing the school or parents do can make them care. Remove them from enrollment. There resulting poor grades end up being blamed on the teachers.
63 of 77? That was not the case back in the 70's when Mark and I attended.
How does Pinkerton rank?
Pinkerton is 24 out of 77
Mark,
I needed to respond to your comment regarding the administration doesn't agree with a parent's reason for an absence. And what right does the school have to enforce THEIR wishes OVER the parent.
There are very clear reasons (or excuses) as to why a student can be absent from school. The school does not randomly come up with them. If the parent advises the school that the student is out because of an illness then the school must excuse the students absence for that day. Actually there are 5 very clear reasons why a student can miss school. I has nothing to do with the administration agreeing or not with the parent.
I was merely quoting from the article, the policy stated. I already have problems with the school psychologist asking kids about their families, and home lives, the forced IEP's the weak curriculum, the low expectations, and the "you did your best, you'll get it next year" attitude.
obvious the school is weak in teaching, i have seen this first hand. Parents that think it is the schools job to make strait A student, Sad as well. Education starts at home, with the parents. But having a low ranked school, unacceptable.
It is an old bromide in the teaching profession to blame the parents for lack of involvement in their childrens education, however, whenever the parents DO try to teach their child something in addition to th schools curriculum they get upset that the parents are interfering with the PROFESSIONALS.
You can't have it both ways.
Also when you are paying the district $13,000/ yr. to educate your child, you should have a reasonable expectation that they ARE ACTUALLY giving your child an education.
Mark, as you know, my wife is a teacher.
She sets very high expectations from the students for academic performance and in class behavior. The principal says she is expecting too much, that her students are not going to be engineers. The principal has already decided that these kids will do be destined for trades like plumbing, carpentry etc.
She also faces frustration because the kids that are doing the most poorly have parents that don't care either. Some even blame her when the kid fails after not doing any homework, nothing in class, and disruptive.
She is more qualified than most teachers. Degrees in biology, chemistry, laboratory science and a masters in education.
No teacher can force a kid to learn.
Administrators that insulate students from the consequences of failure only help to demoralize the teachers.
To many of those who end up in administrative positions today are trained in the bleeding heart school and mistakenly believe that all students can get A's and that if the students get moved along no matter how poor their actual grades are, they will feel better about being in school and eventually start getting those A's.
One of my brothers in also a math teacher. His students call him Mr. Hell because he runs a tight ship and the kids learn because of it. But they still hate it.
He spends his summers and weekends making sure the cashiers at Home Depot make their drawers add up at the end of the shift.
Yes there are poor teachers who don't have the spine to stand up against low expectations. There are some who became teachers just so they could still have summers off.
But the problem is not just one thing.
It takes parents willing to parents. Making sure the kids are not out screwing around when they have homework, not staying up to watch Leno on school nights. Principals willing to set high expectations and making sure that the teachers have their support in getting that message to students and parents. The students need to know they are ultimately responsible for the work they do. That is how it will be in the world when the finish. Best start now accepting that responsibility. That includes handing in work on time. Meeting or exceeding the expectations.
To Fishgutz,
Yes Parents need to be Parents!
However that does not absolve the school from the sin of promoting a kid who gets 3 F's and a D in core subjects!
That does not absolve the school from a principal who says that it will hurt the poor child to be held back, more than just letting him go on and try harder next year.
That does not absolve the school from focusing too many resources on NON EDUCATIONAL RELATED CRAP! Like, watching Napoleon Dynamite, or teaching the legal process by watching Legally Blonde 2, or by teaching Economics by watching Fun with Dick and Jane! All of this, by the way, has happened in Timberlane this year!
"That does not absolve the school from focusing too many resources on NON EDUCATIONAL RELATED CRAP! Like, watching Napoleon Dynamite, or teaching the legal process by watching Legally Blonde 2, or by teaching Economics by watching Fun with Dick and Jane! All of this, by the way, has happened in Timberlane this year!"
Our students must be in the same class or have the same teachers! There is another class that had a contest between the teacher and a student to see who could outperform playing Guitar Hero. This class, known to school administrators as a block style class, is a combined English and American History. How does Guitar Hero relate to either? Administration will be looking at these teachers to help implement block scheduling. BTW, I do believe in work hard, play hard but I haven't seen the work hard portion in the school's curriculum.
Oh My God!
In my wife's school they can not show any movies or activities that are not directly related to the curriculum.
Guitar Hero? Give me a break.
Where is LT on this crap? As school committee chairman, shouldn't he be making noise over the blatant wasting of classroom time?
And what this "combining English and American History?" The only thing the kids need to know about English history is that our founder took the best of English common law, solid Judeo Christian belief that rights pre-exist government, and left all the crap that still makes England an inferior country to the US.
And how about civics so the kids won't so blindly follow anyone who say we need to get rid of the electoral college system.
How about holding the Principal accountable as well. Lazy teachers only do in class what they think they can get away with. Teachers are there to be friends. Principals are there to be leaders not buddies.
As an old timer I am still interested in what the schools are doing. I do not like paying the taxes that are a waste of money.
In my opinion I feel that the National Teachers Assocciation has lost it's way and has become broken as well.
I hear of teachers walking out of meetings that are supposed to be for students benefit, but the main concern is a way to enlarge the the new administration buildings that are going up every where. These are the educators we want to keep. They are totally discouraged from trying to teach what they thought was an education.
I am sorry but, from what I have observed it is just a job and the money is all important.
I have family in the college end of it and the degrees lead to no teaching,sabaticals,and a general life style of the wealthy.
I am old enough to remember when unions were needed to help the people and it was a good thing.
The union is in compete control of our counties education process and is ruining any chance for real educators to actually teach as they would still love to do.
There is enough blame to go around in all areas but the fact remains that we are being led down rhe primrose path by a greedy union.
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