The details
In his report to Keller ISD board members Feb. 29, Cory Wilson, area superintendent of educational support, said that the district will partner with Peyton, Nix & Associates LLC, a law firm specializing in mitigating truancy, beginning after spring break to implement a program for this.
“Truancy has always been a significant issue for public schools,” Wilson said. “However, the problem has exacerbated post-pandemic. Since then, districts have struggled to respond to student absences due to the lack of proven processes, and the inherent challenges of navigating the complexities within statutes.”
Wilson said that per Texas Education Code Section 25.085, a student that is 6-19 years old shall attend school each school day for the entire period the program of instruction is provided. If a student is absent without excuse for more than 10 days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same school year, that student is considered truant.
As part of the truancy mitigation program, Wilson said that a tribunal process will be followed where parents of truant students are summoned to appear at the tribunal and are informed of statutes concerning student attendance. Parents will then meet with the magistrate to outline truancy prevention measures in which the student shall engage. After a period of 45 days, the student has three options:
- Be dismissed from the program
- Offered an extension should they need additional help
- If the student has made no effort to improve their attendance, they will be informed that the school district will file a truancy petition with the court.
Wilson said that as of Feb. 2, 2,673 students met the definition of truancy in Keller ISD. According to a Keller ISD website, 34,000 students are enrolled in the district. Therefore, approximately 7.8% of Keller ISD students are considered truant.
From a financial perspective, according to the Texas Education Agency, the state of Texas bases funding for school districts on average daily attendance of students. Wilson said that a 1% increase in average daily attendance represents $2.4 million in Keller ISD. He added that the first year a similar truancy mitigation program was implemented in Frisco ISD, the average daily attendance increase resulted in an additional $2.6 million for that district.
“The way that funding is done in our state, [truancy] doesn’t just affect that one student, it affects all students,” Wilson said. “Because that money isn’t removed from the system for that one individual, it’s removed from the system for all students.”
