Thinking of skipping school today? Think again.
Equal Partners In Change is spearheading a district-wide effort to curb the high number of students in all grades who habitually cut class. The school district estimates that figure to be as high as 7 percent, or 13,000 to 15,000 students.
To discourage students from playing hooky, the state has significantly raised the consequences for both parents and children, said Crystal Walker, an EPIC truancy administrative assistant.
At the beginning of each school year, parents are required to sign the Pennsylvania School Code Compulsory Education Attendance Law, Walker said. The law requires students who are of compulsory school age to be in school every day, rain or shine.
Those who miss three or more days without a valid excuse are in violation of the law, and that’s where EPIC comes in. The two-year-old organization — 10 branches are set up throughout the city — works with a staff of 10 parent truancy officers, three truancy intervention case managers and two truancy prevention case managers. Each has a unique role in ensuring children return to class.
On a daily basis, the South Philly-based EPIC rounds up truant students and brings them to the Hawthorne Family Center, 11th and Catharine streets. From their fourth-floor office, truancy officers call parents or guardians and notify them that their child has been caught skipping school.
If a child is found playing hooky more than three times, prevention case managers like Katie Wilson are dispatched to the youth’s home to work with parents or guardians.
"A lot of parents don’t make it to the parent-teacher night in the beginning of the school year and, as a result, don’t know about the law," Wilson said. "When they find out what kinds of penalties they can face or what can happen to their kids, they’re usually furious at [the kids] for skipping school."
Indeed, the state does not look kindly on parents whose children regularly cut class, regardless of whether the adults know of the offense. Parents of students who have missed 25 or more days of school are ordered to appear in Family Court. There, they face such penalties as paying $300 worth of fines, spending five days in jail, attending parenting classes, doing six months of community service and having their child removed from their home.
"It’s a huge, huge problem, but sometimes all the parents need are a little help and guidance," Wilson said. "Some of them have children with asthma and just need to make sure the school nurse is aware of the problem. Others have kids with learning disabilities and are afraid to see their kids struggle in school. We try to help them straighten everything out."
EPIC’s aim, said Walker, is to get truant students to change their ways before they hit high school. Truancy intervention case managers often deal with high-school students who have become set in their ways and are unresponsive to threats or penalties.
"It’s harder to get through to high-school students because their parents don’t have as much control over them by that point in their lives," said Henry Bullack, an intervention case manager.
High-schoolers also know they are free to drop out once they turn 17. Then, Bullack says, they become a societal problem. "What are they going to do with their lives without an education?" he asked.
With such high stakes, EPIC’s truancy community director Duane Wilkins is pleased to see that the organization is making progress. EPIC has asked business owners to refuse service to school-age youths after 9 a.m. and urges neighbors to call the police if they see kids playing hooky.
"More and more people are realizing that even though it’s not their child, it is their problem, and are taking steps to make sure kids aren’t allowed to get away with skipping school," Wilkins said. SPR
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EPIC’s next community meeting will be held today at 1 p.m. at the Houston Family Center, Eighth Street and Snyder Avenue. If you spot children skipping school in your neighborhood, call 215-299-SAFE.
