School, District and Community Interventions

Once a petition is filed, the District takes a multi-tiered approach to interventions. The decision of when and whether a student moves to the next tier is determined by monitoring their attendance regularly and being in contact with school staff who provide updates on student performance.

1.       Community Engagement Workshops
Community Engagement Workshops are informational sessions that provide an opportunity for families to hear about the law, reasons to engage in school, and identify barriers to attending school. It allows families to work with Community Engagement Board members to develop a plan. This is the opportunity for families to make a plan of action and ask for specific help from the District to improve attendance.

2.       Community Engagement Board
The Community Engagement Board (CEB) is a next step to work with families one-on-one.  The CEB seeks to address the problem of truancy through the collaboration of school, court, and community resource providers. Community volunteers serve in collaboration with District staff to dive deeper into the student’s story to identify reasons for the student’s challenges in attending school. The board makes recommendations to the students, their parents, and the District to improve the student’s attendance and support the student in making such a change.

3.       Attendance Intervention Meeting

When a CEB is not practical, an Attendance Intervention Meeting (AIM) may be set up.  Students and families are assigned to a BSD staff person who connects the family with services and interventions that the district offers.

4.       Court Action

Once a truancy petition is filed the district is required to report on every student bi-monthly.  If the District level interventions do not help to improve attendance, then action is taken to the courts. This can come in the form of a Pretrial Conference or a Preliminary Truancy Hearing. 

 Pretrial Conference—the court sets a meeting with a King County court staff member, the School District, student, and parent.  At these conferences, the court staff will share the importance of attendance and what the courts are looking for.  The district and family will enter into an agreement, led by the Courts, to resolve the attendance issue.

Preliminary Truancy Hearing—Preliminary hearings are currently held on Fridays and are set for a morning calendar (9am) or and afternoon calendar (1pm) in Seattle at Clark children and Family Justice Center.  At the hearing, the court will hear the evidence (review attendance, make sure the school met or attempt to meet with the student and family, and determine if interventions were attempted or offered) from the school district, the parents, and student to decide whether the student is truant.

If the court determines that a student has been truant, they will enter a written order directing the student to go to school. A student who successfully obeys the court order and goes to school without any unexcused absences, will most likely not be called back to court for any additional hearings.

Students and parents who do not comply with the court order and continue to have unexcused absences may be summoned back to court for a contempt hearing.  

Contempt Hearing--A student and/or parent who have been determined to have violated the court order may be held in contempt and maybe ordered court-imposed sanctions (consequences) to correct the student’s attendance issues. The court may order a student to write a report, do community service, or require a student to participate in an assessment (including mental health, drug and alcohol or other assessments the court deems necessary). If a parent is named on the petition or later added in a court hearing as a respondent (responsible or partially responsible for the student missing school), the parent may be required to do community service or even be issued fines of $25 for each day of their child’s truancy. Children are provided legal counsel at the contempt stage.

• Every day, on time. Help your child get to school on time every day by planning ahead. Encourage your child to prepare for the next school day by laying out clothes the night before and helping to fix lunches. Babysitting, problems with a car or late bus, and helping parents with appointment are not excusable reasons to miss school. Coming to school late will also be noted on your child’s record and will make it difficult for your child to stay caught up with the first lessons of each morning.
• Follow school guidelines and attendance policy and report absences immediately. At the beginning of the school year, review school rules and make sure you understand whom you need to call if your child is going to be absent.
• Schedule family events with your child’s school schedule in mind. Try to plan holiday celebrations or family trips during weekends or school vacations. In the case of family emergencies or unexpected trips, let the school know as soon as possible and speak to your child’s teacher(s) to set up a means for your child to work ahead or bring important assignments on the trip.
• Take an active role. Stay involved with your child’s daily experiences at school by asking how the school day went and listening carefully to what your child shares with you about his/her successes and struggles. Make it a point to meet your child’s teacher(s) and friends.
• Identify potential sources of anxiety. If your child frequently appears upset or reluctant to go to school and cannot tell you why, schedule an appointment with his or her teacher or school counselor to talk about possible sources of the anxiety.
• Limit the amount of time your child misses school due to medical appointments or illness. If possible, avoid scheduling doctor appointments during the school hours. Keep your child at home only in the case of contagious or severe illnesses.
• Promote a restful environment at home. Have your child relax before bedtime by doing something like reading rather than something stimulating like watching TV or playing video games. Students need quality sleep to function properly and that usually ranges in getting 8 to 12 hours of slumber.

The Community Engagement Board (CEB) seeks to address the problem of truancy through the collaboration of school, court and community resource providers. The CEB makes recommendations to students, parents and the school district with the goal of improving a student’s attendance record. The recommendations become part of an agreement between the student, parent and CEB. The recommendation includes an agreement to attend school and may include other services or requirements as deemed necessary.