APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Months of deliberation are coming to an end. Last night Appleton’s school board picked its top option between three proposals from the district’s Truancy Task Force.
It voted six to one to get rid of all citations for chronically absent students… and try to tackle truancy at its root.
Jeanne Roberts, a retired mental health counselor, tells FOX 11…
“For the kids who have a history of trauma, kids who maybe are staying home because they need to make sure moms not beaten up when dad gets home from work, those kids are not going to benefit from a truancy court.”
The new truancy program has three steps.
Schools are the first line of defense, holding interventions to see why kids might be missing school. If the school can’t handle the case, it will go to a community attendance board. And if that doesn’t work, county youth and family services may be referred.
“Eventually, those few that we’re been talking about, those handful that we’ve been talking about that we just can’t get to go to school– those may end up in a referral,” Amber McGinley, a Truancy Task Force member said.
Only one Appleton school board member, Barry O’Connor, disagreed with the plan that was chosen.
He tells FOX 11 why…
“I voted against it because I think we need to reserve the option three provisions for municipal citations because it has a way of being more immediate.”
The board will revisit the new plan throughout the year to see if it needs to implement any changes.
O’Connor said he expects this new plan to be implemented in the fall, and it’s now up to district administrators to make the change happen.
