 | Program tackles truancy |
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Center focuses on elementary pupils
BY TOYA LYNN STEWART/ Garland Morning News
Thursday, February 8, 2001.
Sixty-three elementary school children and their parents are scheduled to be in Judge John Sholden's courtroom Thursday.
Many will offer excuses he's heard countless times.
"A lot of parents say it's very hard for their kids to get up or they're just running late," Judge Sholden said. "or it will be stomachaches, parents worked late the night before, they had to drop children at different schools or when they drop their kids off, they go to the playground or somewhere else on school property."
Whatever the reason, by the time a student ends up in Judge Sholden's court, its because the school district has filed truancy charges.
The problem has become so severe that Judge Sholden expressed the need for a program to deal with truancy among elementary children. The Galaxy Counseling Center responded.
The counseling centr has developed a program that specifically addresses truancy among elementary school children. On Thursday, Galaxy representatives will sit in the courtroom ready to sign up families for counseling if it's ordered by the judge.
"There are a lot of programs for middle and high school kids who are truant, but not for elementary kids," said Shelley Franklin, development director at the center. "There wasn't a formal curriculum we could borrow from, so we had to creat our own."
The Counseling center will offer a five-week curriculum that teaches families to function in a healthy way so parent so parents can get a child to school, said Joyce Webb, clinical director at galaxy.
Focus on Prevention
"Our program will focus on prevention," Ms. Webb said. "We'll help parents have a positive understanding about why the kids need to go to school and need to be on time,"
Participants will meet with two therapists for a 90-minute session each week. The children and the parents will meet with the therapists individually and as a family. The cost of the five-week program is $100, and financial assistance may be available, Ms. Webb said.
The Galaxy Counseling Center is a nonprofit agency. Its mission is to promote healthy family relationships.
The program will begin in March and will address the district's truancy laws, stress management, responsibility, time management, and the consequences of truancy. It also will focus on teaching children how to learn to like school.
"We're hoping that by introducing the program early on, Judge Sholden won't see these children in his courtroom again," Ms. Franklin said. "if we address the problem now, we may be able to prevent further truancy."
During the 1999-2000 school year, about 375 truancy cases were filed against children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Garland school district, Ms. Franklin said.
"last year, I had over 4,100 case filed in my court," Judge Sholden said.
"My hope and desire is that by having this program, the parents will be involved and realize how important it is for the child to be at school and on time all day.."
The truancy case filed last year included elementary, middle and high school students i the Garland district and two schools in the Dallas school district, he said.
Garland school board President Dr. G. Randall Clark said he is not surprised by the number of truant students.
"We even ahd a case come before the board ... when the parent thought it was unfair that their child was being counted tardy because they were five minutes late," dr. Clark.
"The mother said she was habitually late and didn't think her child should be penalized for her lateness."
If a child has missed school, whole or parts of days, charges can be filed against the parents, said Judge Sholden, who is the Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4. The charges are punishable by a fine of up to $500, and sanctions can be issued against the parents.
"It is against he law for your child to get to school late," Judge Sholden said. "you need to teach your kids that being on time matters."
The garland school district's truancy policy is probably one of the state's strictest, Judge Sholden said. Because of the policy, he thinks the district's average daily attendance is high and the dropout rate is low.
But he acknowledges truancy is still a problem.
Besides possibly hindering a child's education, truancy can cost the district money, Dr. Clark said.
'Best Interest'
We receive state money on average daily attendance," Dr. Clark said.
"We hate to sound money hungry, but its in the best interest of the taxpayers because we receive more money from the state based on the average daily attendance. The bottom line is that's how we get our state funding."
Dr. Clark said he thinks the counseling program could provide an atmosphere that will allow students to articulate problems they may be having at school but are not comfortable discussing with parents or teachers.
"It's a very innovative idea," Dr. Clark said.
"You can't learn unless you're there," Judge Sholden said.
"I believe if students learn early on that attending school and being on time matters, you're not going to have to worry about them in middle school and high school."
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