As of September 1, Texas laws state that students will no longer face criminal charges for truancy.
However, Lubbock ISD said students between the age of 6 and 19 who are consistently truant could face a civil court case.
LISD’s Assistant Superintendent of Student School Support Lynn Akin told EverythingLubbock.com that a protocol immediately goes into place with a student’s first unexcused absence.
“There’s an attendance clerk at each school and that clerk will make immediate contact as quick as they can with the parent and try to understand why the student was absent,” Akin said.
Akin said by the student’s third unexcused absence in a four-week period, phone calls and letters are sent to the student’s parents or guardians.
“If this becomes a pattern situation with his family, then at the seventh time then they’re invited to come and visit with the school administrator,” Akin said.
Akin said if it continues, then an LISD attendance officer will meet with the student’s family.
“At that meeting with the attendance officer, they would talk about again that the parent could possible by prosecuted be taken to court,” Akin said. “They don’t threaten that; they don’t want to do that. They don’t usually do that unless the pattern continues.”
Akin said a parent could be charged for their student’s absences.
“If an adult chooses to be derelict about their responsibilities and having their child come to school then we feel that we know at that point that at that level of intervention needs to occur because it is just vital for their children to be in school,” he said.
Akins said LISD schools offer different opportunities to complete the missed work through make-up homework or quizzes.
Get a full list of LISD rules and procedures on their website here.
