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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 11, 2006 Truants' parents could be charged By PARIS ACHEN Mail Tribune The Southern Oregon Education Service District is developing a system to boost attendance in the county's nine school districts, including procedures to hold parents accountable for their child's unexcused absences when other measures fail to bring the student back to school. The final step in the system will put into practice state laws that call for citing parents for their child's unexcused absences and suspending truant teenagers' driver's licenses as well as provide consistent enforcement of those laws. "We are not inventing the wheel," said Phil Ortega, an ESD attendance specialist. "The laws were already invented. We are just enforcing them countywide." Oregon law requires children between the ages of 7 and 18 to regularly attend a full-time school. The ESD launched a pilot of the system in January in the Butte Falls, Prospect and Rogue River school districts. The countywide program will begin in the fall. So far, the ESD has not had to issue any citations because home visits from an attendance specialist, conferences between parents, students, teachers and administrators and other measures have persuaded students to return to school. The citations will be the measure of "last resort" after home visits, school meetings, letters home and other steps fail, said ESD Superintendent Steve Boyarsky. "I think as long as the parent is at the table and trying to get their kid to school, we would never cite the parent," Boyarsky said. Oregon schools already have the authority to cite parents for their child's truancy and take steps to suspend the driver's licenses of chronically absent teenagers. But some school officials don't know how to take those steps. The ESD attendance program will train administrators and attendance clerks how to use the laws when necessary. The ESD is working with Jackson County Juvenile Justice to process any potential citations and issue penalties, including parenting classes or a fine of up to $150, when the system goes into effect in the fall, Boyarsky said. The ESD will spend the summer advising school districts in revising student handbooks and school board policies to align them with the new attendance program. One administrator and attendance clerk from each school in the county are also expected to be trained in the program this summer. The ESD expects to hire 1.5 attendance specialists to serve all nine school districts. The attendance specialists will travel the county, visiting the homes of truant students, serving as a liaison between the student and the school and setting up a plan for students to return to school and make up class work. The Linn-Benton-Lincoln ESD in Albany has a similar attendance program in place. Last year, the ESD of 35,000 students issued 159 citations. Josephine and Klamath counties also have such programs. Since the Jackson County pilot started in January, Ortega has made contact with about 60 truant students in Butte Falls, Prospect and Rogue River school districts. All of the students have returned to school, Ortega said. "He gets kids back to school, back to the learning process, and that helps students and the school meet the goals of attendance," said Charles Hellman, superintendent of Rogue River schools. Schools must maintain an attendance rate of 92 percent to comply with Bush's No Child Left Behind act. School districts already have measures in place to address truancy, including calls home, meetings with parents, detention and counseling. Schools will call on the ESD only when those measures fail to bring the student back to class, Ortega said. For one girl, who attends a high school in the pilot program, returning to classes was only a matter of receiving the proper clothing, Ortega said. The girl had straight Fs on her report card and had dropped out of her high school when school officials contacted Ortega to find her. The school gave Ortega her last known address. It took visits to two different residences to locate her. She and her family were homeless and living with friends, he said. "She was in high school, and the pressure is there to dress hip," Ortega said. Ortega provided her with clothes, scheduled meetings with her teachers to craft a plan for her to make up credit and arranged for her to do her homework at school. She is now earning As and Bs in her classes, Ortega said. He said he continues to meet with her weekly to check up on her progress. "This tool is a way for us to go to students and say, 'We are concerned about your student success. We want to give you an opportunity to succeed in your school environment, and I'm going to help you by not letting you slip through the cracks,'" Ortega said. Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4459 or e-mail [email protected] . Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy