Solving West Virginia’s truancy problem takes work on all fronts, attorney says
BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — It’s a stereotype that kids like to skip school and that they may celebrate when bad weather closes school doors. But West Virginia teachers are seeing a serious rise in chronic absenteeism, despite laws making truancy a crime and holding adult guardians legally accountable.
According to Balanced Scorecard, around 28 percent of West Virginia students in grades K-12 missed 10 percent of instructional days during the 2022-23 school year.
Marie Bechtel, an attorney who works with children as a guardian ad litem in her Beckley practice, said the solution may not be simple.
“Certainly, societal problems play a role in the truancy problem, and the opioid epidemic affects probably the vast majority of children that are in the school system, now,” said Bechtel. “A very high percentage of children are being raised by their grandparents or by other family members.”
Only 20 percent of adults in West Virginia have a bachelor’s degree, World Population Data shows, but a number of parents in the state teach their children in homeschools.
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Public school administrators expect to cut professional educators as lawmakers funnel dollars from public school districts to the Hope Scholarship program, which funds non-public schools.
West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy data shows West Virginia children are much more likely than those in other states to end up with a foster family.
Bechtel pointed out that state truancy laws, which can fine or imprison adults, including grandparents, when students miss school, were not designed to place a burden on families who are already struggling. She said the law was designed to promote education.
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She said the legal system is only one part of solving the state truancy problem. Other agencies play a role in ensuring West Virginians are educated, according to Bechtel.
“For example, SNAP benefits are a tremendous help to families. Free and reduced price lunch can serve as a great incentive to get children to school,” she said. And then schools provide care backpacks in some instances, you know, with food for weekends and things like that to send home with children.”
Bechtel said some school districts in the state now allow parents and guardians to submit school excuses online. She said the practice could cut down on the number of reported truancies.
Before the change, students took the notes to school, in person.
Legal Aid of West Virginia offers tips to help adults avoid legal penalties for truancy.
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