Teacher Asks If It's Wrong To Call CPS On A Student Who's Been Absent For Nearly Half The Year — ‘It’s Not Fair To Them’
The student's mother has been unresponsive about her child's excessive absences.
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A | Shutterstock A teacher questioned if she was within her rights to intervene on behalf of a student who had not attended school for some time and was in danger of suffering academically as a result.
Posting to the subreddit r/Teachers, she claimed that she wasn't sure if taking action on behalf of a constantly absent student was something that she should do.
A teacher asked if it would be wrong to call CPS about a student who'd been chronically absent from her class.
"I'm in California if it matters. A student's already been absent 43% of the year, off and on. Mom doesn't return my emails or the daily attendance phone calls. I just learned it was happening in previous years, too, but no one really made it a big deal," she began in her Reddit post.
Monkey Business Images | Canva Pro
Chronic absenteeism has become a huge problem in the California school system.
According to the California Department of Education, the state legislature defines truancy in very precise language. It states that a "student who misses more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three times during the school year must be classified as a truant and reported to the proper school authority."
In fact, chronic absenteeism has been an issue for some California schools and school districts over the last several years.
In 2021-22, 30% of students in California’s public schools were chronically absent, an all-time high and more than three times the pre-pandemic rate. Before the pandemic, about 10% of students in California’s public schools missed at least 10% (or 18 days) in a school year. But COVID-related school closures during the pandemic, remote learning, and quarantines have created a new routine for some families: optional, not mandatory, daily school attendance.
The teacher pointed out that the fallout from chronic absences shouldn't fall on teachers' shoulders, and she questioned if she should call CPS on the parents for letting their child stay home from school.
She explained that in California, parents can be charged with a misdemeanor, sentenced to jail time, or fined for failing to regulate and encourage attendance at school.
In the comments section, people argued that calling CPS for issues of truancy is outside the teacher's job description.
As a teacher, it's understandable that she would be concerned for a student who's been missing vital education in the classroom for the majority of the school year. However, truancy isn't something teachers typically handle; it is usually an administrative issue.
Calling CPS would be an option if the teacher suspected something was happening at home that was putting the student's life or well-being in danger.
Pavel Danilyuk | Canva Pro
"I have called for CPS, but not necessarily because of the number of absences (that is someone else’s job). But, I did call when one child (teen) told me the reason they had so many absences was because their parents made them work at their store (unpaid) when it was understaffed," a teacher shared in the Reddit comments.
"The parents drive the child to school and the child was distressed and actually wanted to go to school."
Another teacher chimed in, writing, "There is an attendance process that the site or district office admin would be responsible for. Maybe speak with the site admin and share your concerns to see if letters are being sent out."
At the end of the day, it isn't just this teacher who is dealing with chronic absenteeism from a student. Roughly one in four students in the 2022-23 school year were chronically absent, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year.
Since the teacher's efforts to reach the student's parents were fruitless, it's best if she reaches out to the school administration office for further assistance. Hopefully, they can come to a solution that ends with the student returning to the classroom.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.