Ferrara, Barnett Showcase Truancy Program For QISD

Compulsory school attendance and a plan to enforce it were on the minds of Quinlan School Board members Monday night.

Quinlan Independent School District Police Chief Pete Ferrara and Justice of the Peace Hershey Barnett reviewed a Truancy Abatement Program at the meeting.

Supt. Micheal French introduced the subject and said the attendance rate was one of the things he was attempting to improve as part of an overall systems analysis.

French said two results of student absences were — 1) If the student was not present, he could not learn; and 2) the school district experienced a loss of funds that equaled $100,000 for each one percent in loss of attendance.

He said Ferrara and Barnett had put together a plan to address the problem.

Utilizing a multi-media presentation, Ferrara told the board that despite compulsory school attendance, 40 percent of the freshmen at Quinlan ISD never made it through to graduation.

Executive Director of Student Services Byron Burk said absenteeism at Quinlan was two to two and a half percent higher than at comparable districts. He said the local average attendance rate was 93.5 percent.

Ferrara said 10 or more days of absences was a punishable offense. He said students under age 10 were not responsible for absences, but rather their parents were. However, the students, and not the parents, were held responsible for absences by students over age 17. Absences over the limit of 10 carried a fine of up to $500 per offense.

The school police chief presented truancy numbers for the current school year by campus. At Joe Martin Early Childhood Center, 60 warnings were issued with 18 cases filed; D.C. Cannon Elementary School, 86 warnings issued, 19 cases filed; C.B. Thompson Middle School, 108 warnings issued, 28 cases filed; and W.H. Ford High School with 692 total students, 301 warnings issued, 125 cases filed.

He said 44 percent of the high school students had absences in excess of seven; and 18 percent exceeded 10 days.

Under the new Truancy Abatement Program, offending students would be court ordered to participate in the program for 30 to 45 days. Ferrara said if the program were successfully completed, there would be no monetary fines imposed.

Program consequences included loss of student parking permit; no additional tardies permitted; sign-in sheet required for every class; and mandatory attendance at Wednesday and Saturday school to regain lost credits.

Ferrara said that upon completion of the program, a report would be made to the justice of the peace court to close the case, and the student would regain privileges. The police chief said the program placed the responsibility back on the parent and student.

He said benefits included the fact that it utilized the present system and added no additional responsibility or workload at the campus level.

Barnett said he was excited about the program and looked forward to putting it together and putting it to work.

The justice of the peace said he recalled one case last year in which a parent used the excuse for the absences that she could not get her first grader up to go to school.

Board President Kenny Stone added that he thought it would be a good idea to charge for the program handbooks as they were distributed to offenders to prevent the district from having to absorb the cost.

Business Office Manager Billie Miller gave the month’s financial report. She said revenue in March totaled $795,474.14 and to date $17,762,012.15; expenses for the month, $1,643,748.10 and to date, $17,158,410.87.

Taxes, penalties and interest collected in March totaled $345,257.12. Interest earned for the month totaled $4,248; and for the year, $70,339.

Budget amendments were approved including one for $168,500 for the new telephone system approved at last month’s meeting.

Technology Director Mike Roberts reported that six companies were contacted for prices since last month and that better-than-expected prices would be realized from the district’s old equipment.

• The 2009-10 student transfer list from other school district was unanimously approved.

• The resale of four pieces of property were approved as presented by the Hunt County Tax Office.

• A short executive session was held. When the meeting reopened to the public, the board approved the resignations of Sally Hemphill, Elisa Fuentes, Michael Shank and Marshall Herron.

The board also hired Levi Hughes for a history-coach position at W.H. Ford High School. Hughes earned his bachelor degree from Texas Tech University and had several duties while attending the university that included helping coordinate and facilitate Texas Tech basketball practices, worked with individual players, assisted in fielding recruit calls and coordinated film watching for the players.

Gary Pamplin was approved for an assistant principal-coach position at W.H. Ford High School. He served 30 years in the U.S. Navy and holds several world record titles in powerlifting.

• All board members were present except Michelle Harrison and Eric Kleiber.