By Manar Mohammad, Staff Writer
“I was late and they called me down and handed me the ticket, asking me how tall I was and what my weight was. I was so confused.”
Such was the experience of one Indian Trail High School & Academy senior, who requested anonymity and shared her experience of receiving her first truancy ticket.
It’s not just any ticket, it’s a $681 ticket.
All of that money because of one little word: truancy. It is the one word that makes nearly every high school student cringe and causes frustration among many parents.
In the state of Wisconsin, education is mandatory, meaning that all youth under the age of 18 are required to attend school. Therefore, being declared truant would mean that a student has missed school or class without permission, also known as an unexcused absence.
Under truancy laws, tardies and truancies are treated the same: A student may not miss all or part of a day unexcused. At Indian Trail, tardies and truancies are listed separately in student records for parents who want to see the distinction.
At ITHS&A, the rate of truancies is similar to other high schools. However, over the past two years, Indian Trail has undergone massive changes in size and students have to cover much greater distances than last year as they try to get from one class to the other during a five-minute passing time. Yet, despite this, truancies and tardies have decreased because of repeated hall sweeps that take place, said Adam King, dean of student engagement.
“When no sweeps are done, tardies and truancies increase,” King said.
Tardies are not a big problem either. Out of the 1,600 students in school, 1,000 of them have no tardies.
For those who do receive truancies, however, five truancies mean punishment since it is a status offense, illegal behavior by a child. In some states, it is not just punishment for students, but also their parents. Parents may be fined thousands of dollars, lose their driving privileges, or even worse, be sent to jail. Senators in California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Florida are trying to pass legislation that would implement such punishments. But how long will it take before such laws might be enacted in our own state?
“Parents shouldn’t be held responsible for their kids’ actions,” Ashley Emmett, Biotechnology senior and ITHS&A Student Ambassador said. “They should discuss with the school the reason why their child doesn’t want to attend school.”
Kenosha Police Officer Eric Block, also Indian Trail’s school resource officer, said parents should have to make an effort with helping students get to school.
“If they’re not doing anything about it, they should be held for it,” said Block.
On the other hand, some parents try hard, but kids just don’t listen sometimes.
“If parents drop their kids off, they have no control if their kids skip classes at school,” he said.
“If the parent can’t get the child to go to school, I don’t think it (punishing parents) will really benefit,” said Court Officer Mark Jambrek, of the city of Kenosha Police Department, who takes part in municipal court proceedings.
The system is not unjust however. After a student receives five truancies, they are not immediately given a truancy ticket. Truancies are always looked into for reasons.
According to Kenosha Municipal Court records, when ticketing for truancies first began in 2005, 250 tickets were issued to Kenosha high school students. This past school year, 176 tickets were given out.
“It started to decline because we were doing this. The students figured that ‘OK, this is what’s going to happen’ so it started to decline,” said Jambrek.
“Our goal is never to ticket the kid,” said King, “It’s to keep them in school and get their education.”
“We usually call home and parents come in to talk to me. The kids we usually talk about are usually ones we’re already working with,” he said, pointing to a large stack of files in the back of his office that he says belong to the students authorities continuously keep their eye on.
Truancies occur despite mandatory school attendance laws and steep fines, giving rise to an idea raised by some to make education voluntary. Voluntary education, or education by choice, could lead to less spending, especially on those who don’t put any effort into their education.
“Hopefully that doesn’t happen,” said Officer Block. “It would lead to more truancies and tardies since there’d be more students walking in the hallways and skipping class. There would be more students leaving school and doing whatever they want, such as smoking, and there’d be no consequences.”
Officer James Krein, a Kenosha patrolman, agreed.
“It would make our jobs as police officers harder, teachers’ jobs harder, and it would decrease the number of graduates,” Krein said.
“You need the education to get somewhere in your life, to get a job. A lot of times employers look for someone who is educated. To not go to school, and not get at least a high school diploma isn’t going to help you,” said Jambrek.
But if giving students the choice to come to school is bad, then is compelling them to come to school any better?
“They should have to come. If you’re going to be here, you should do something while you’re at it. Having an education is going to give you skills to get you through life productively,” Block said.
Students who struggle with learning in a traditional classroom environment around other people have other options such as e-school, which can help reduce truancies, Jambrek said.
Truant students do not get off easy. After five separate truancies, they are sent to court after authorities look into reasons behind their truancies . The judge takes into consideration the students’ grades and attendance before giving them a probationary period of nine to 18 weeks. A court order is given to teachers, and if students comply and are not tardy, they are not fined.
An Indian Trail student who went through the system explains her experience. After 10 tardies, she was called down to the deans’ office and was told that she couldn’t risk being truant any longer. She was put “on watch” for a whole week and if she was tardy again, she would get the ticket.
“I was always late by a second or a minute and they marked it down,” said the senior.
She was sent to court where she was given one more chance to improve by giving her a quarter in the semester to do better, meaning no tardies or absent days. After this, she improved her grades but was late once again. After returning to court for a second time, she was granted a whole semester since the officials noticed the effort she was making based on her improved grades. Unfortunately, the student was tardy three more times, and at the final court day she was handed the $681 ticket, but was allowed to pay it through monthly payments.
School officials continue to make efforts to encourage students to avoid being tardy such as hosting the No Tardy Party, which took place late last year and again March 5. Students with zero tardies and truancies were rewarded with free ice cream and prizes.
“Students are monitored, we talk to parents, and if students fix it, it’s rewarding,” said King. “If it’s not their fault, we try to work around it.”