Peace and quiet. Ahhh…I looked out at my students as they were silently reading and took a mental survey of what I know about this group of 6th-8thgraders. Who are these young people?
In my room, at least 60% are in homes where I know drugs and alcohol are playing a role in the family environment and nearly 80% are coming from homes where poverty has a firm hold. One in four are being raised by widows. Quietly they all read, lost in worlds of adventures far from the starkness of their real lives.
It is not hard to see where almost every single one of my students faces a daily challenge in which they must use some kind of coping mechanism just to show up at school. I am actually quite surprised that truancy is a rarity in my classroom. However, I have had to become familiar with the new laws surrounding truancy this year.
I already knew students enrolled in a public school in Washington must attend school by law. If a student does not attend school and the absence has not been approved by the school, then the student is deemed to have an unexcused absence.
New to me are the steps we must now take as schools when unexcused absences go beyond one day. According to RCW 28A.225.010if a child fails to attend school without valid justification, the school needs to inform the parent of the absence. Three days? The school must schedule a conference with the parents. Between absences two and five, the school must take data-informed step to address the causes of the absences. It is in this time frame that the Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS) may come into effect for middle school and high school students. The WARNS was new to me and I had to become familiar with this data-informed step of our new state law governing truancy as we have do not have a fulltime counselor in our rural school to address this aspect of the truancy law.
WARNS is an online assessment a truant student takes. The assessment is short and asks questions within a framework of six domains that may be influencing the truancy of a student: (a) Aggressions/Defiance; (b) Substance Abuse; (c) Depression/Anxiety; (d) Family Environment; (e) Peer Deviance; and (F) School engagement. Assessment for each domain results in high, moderate, or low values with an overall score calculated of a student’s risk level. The WARNS then provides suggested interventions for the student.
Part of me loves this system. It is really user-friendly and results in a starting point to start helping the student move from a place of truancy. And yet, there are many problems with the process that are reflective of the lack of resources many schools face.
For instance, the law requires an assessment be completed between days three and five, and yet the WARNS must be taken on a voluntary basis. There is no recourse for a school in which a student refuses to be assessed. The wording of the law needs to reflect the “hands-tied” situation schools easily find themselves in when students refuse to take the assessment or is in the middle of a “run” of truancy.
Secondly, I appreciate the existence of this data-driven approach to helping schools and the resulting recommendations. However, many schools do not have the resources in place that are deemed “best-practices” to address the student’s needs. We know the needs, we see the risk; we simply do not have the resources available to meet the needs or ameliorate the risks.
Where is the funding for counselors once a need is identified? Even on a most basic level, where is the funding to cover the cost associated with opening a WARNS account? It is a frustrating and all-to-familiar predicament for our public schools.
According to the CDC, suicide rates in our state for our teens are at an all-time high. Many of these suicides have root causes reflective of struggles in the six domains evaluated by the WARNS. Mental health issues are on the rise as well. This is especially true for my students, as with one in five childrenof poverty coping with a mental health issue. Looking at the resources available to address these issues, one can see why the average time from onset of a mental health issue to treatment is eight to ten yearsfor adolescents. That is eight to ten years too long!
WARNS is an excellent tool to begin the process of examining whatever is in play for our truant students. But, that is all it is-a tool. If we are to take up the mantel of addressing the factors contributing to truancy, we need to be better equipped with the resources and funding to do so.
When we know better, we should be doing better.
I too appreciate the tool… and you’re absolutely right, having the tool is one thing, having the time and resources to maximize the use of that tool is something else altogether.
There is also room for policy changes in response to truancy. I remember the days when truancy was “punished” by plopping a kid in in-school-suspension. I think those policies are rarer today (hopefully).
One side note (ish)… you mention that you’re surprised that truancy is a rarity in your school. From a distance, I observe that as a credit to the environment the adults in your building have created. While there are certainly issues beyond a kid’s control that cause truancy, when a kid really wants to be at a school where they feel safe and cared for, the draw of skipping/dipping/cutting (whatever the kids call it nowadays) is less.