Melissa Keller has been a truancy officer in Lafayette Parish schools for nearly 20 years. Lately, she’s been busier than ever.
Chronic absenteeism, or the share of students who miss at least 10% or more of a school year, surged after the pandemic. But as some parts of the country started to see a decline in absenteeism, Louisiana’s student absenteeism rate grew to 23% by 2022-23 — an increase over the previous school year and nearly double the pre-pandemic rate. (Statewide numbers for the 2023-2024 school year have not yet been released.)
Chronic absenteeism includes every day that students miss school, whether or not the absence was excused. Truancy, by contrast, focuses just on unexcused absences. Under Louisiana law, students are considered truant if they rack up more than five unexcused absences or tardies in one semester.
In Lafayette Parish, nearly 42% of students were truant in the 2018-2019 school year. The percentage rose to about 51% in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, which is the most recent data available from the state.
Keller’s job title might suggest she’s chasing down truant students who cut class. But in reality, she works with families to connect them with the resources they need to make sure students can show up to school.
Under state law, truant students can be referred to juvenile court and their parents or guardians can face fines, mandatory community service or even jail time. But Keller, who considers herself a “triage nurse of truancy,” said she works to keep students and their families out of the court system.
Instead, she works with families and educators to identify what’s causing a student to miss school and find solutions.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” she said. “At the end of the day, we need the kids to be in school.”
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What does chronic absenteeism and truancy look like in your school district?
You’re always going to have those students that are not coming to school. But the biggest issue, especially after COVID happened, kids were staying at home.
Attendance is a routine. If you have a truant student in high school, you’re going to have a truant student in middle and elementary school. It becomes a pattern.
What are some of the reasons students become chronically absent?
We have some that just don’t want to go to school. You have some kids that are just sick both mentally and physically. You have those kids that have transportation issues. You have those kids that just don’t have the basic [resources] to go to school and need uniforms or school supplies.
How do you respond when a student becomes truant?
We don’t just look at the kid’s absences, we look at it holistically. We’re gonna look at grades. We look at discipline. We also look at test scores. We look at everything there is to see.
We have a grant this year and we’re able to get uniforms and school supplies.
Whatever is a barrier that’s keeping them from school, we try to fix that barrier and get them to school. If it continues, at the last leg, then we refer it to court. That is our last, last resort.
We don’t go for punitive first, (but) we definitely will use our court system here in Lafayette Parish. We have a great relationship with our judge and assistant district attorney where we can refer our cases for those parents that don’t follow through.
If punitive is the last resort, can you talk about some of the interventions you use before that?
In Lafayette Parish, we have created so many different players to try to help.
We make sure that after three days, letters are going out to the parents just to let them know, because a lot of it is also awareness. Are the parents aware of truancy laws? Because honestly, until I sat in this position 18 years ago, I didn’t know about truancy. It’s just something that they’re just not aware of.
We (also) work on pre-divergence. We have a sit-down with that parent and find out what is the barrier in this home that’s (causing) the student not to come to school. We create a plan. Everyone signs it.
If I say that I’m going to do something, I’m accountable, and I have to follow through with that just as the parent and the student are accountable.
What do you want families to know about your role as a truancy officer?
What you have to make them understand is that they’re getting help from us. They run from us because we’re the truancy officers.
But if you talk to me and you tell me what’s going on, I can refer services. I’m willing to work with you. I’m willing to do whatever it takes. It’s just about communicating to us and allowing us to help you, and not look at us as an enemy. At the end of the day, we need the kids to be in school.
I tell kids all the time, “I will put in all the work that you want me to put in, but you better stand right here next to me.”
If you walk beside us, we’re going to walk through the fire.
What are some keys to successful attendance that you would recommend other districts try?
In Lafayette Parish, we have an abundance of resources. The key is to try to get those resources. It’s not just us doing the work. We work with the community in order to get families what they need.
And the school-based truancy team. Because truancy is not easy to combat alone, even with our four officers. But we have so many people that are willing to help.
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 04:00:00
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