Pasco County schools turn to truancy petitions over attendance issues

LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — The Pasco County School District is taking a tougher stance on student absences, and some families may find themselves answering to a judge.

The district is filing truancy petitions against families when kids miss too many days.

Superintendent Dr. John Legg says truancy petitions are a last resort. So far, the district has only filed about a dozen petitions. But still, some families say the policy is concerning.

“Attendance is crucial. When our students miss school, they miss the knowledge, they miss the activities, they miss the learning from the other students, and they fall behind,” Legg said.

He says truancy has been a big problem in Pasco County schools since the pandemic. Right now, 1,200 students are considered truant, meaning they’ve missed more than 15 days of school in 90 days, all unexcused. So the district had to buckle down, sending out truancy petitions.

“What we’re looking at are those most severe cases where we have students that are absent 40, 50 days out of 90 days, bringing these before the court to get their assistance in order to help these students get to school so they can get the education they deserve,” he said.

Families who receive truancy petitions will have to go before a judge and explain why their child missed so much school. The judge will decide the action to take. 

Jessica Silber, owner of Elevate Advocate & Learning Co., says the policy has some of her clients concerned.

“I think there can be some great intentions sometimes behind guidelines but not always considering the needs of all students,” said Silber.

Silber works with families who have children with special needs, like autism. She says while therapy appointments are excused absences, these families sometimes deal with other challenges, like anxiety or behavioral problems, that may not always come with a doctor’s note.

“If there is something impacting their attendance outside of your control, then let’s go for an evaluation, let’s get it documented, in case something does come up and you have to go to court,” she said.

Legg says ultimately the goal is support, not punishment, and keeping kids in class.

“Those are all the things our social workers and schools work with our families on to make those excused absences and to work with families. What we’re talking about are those chronic absenteeism where parents simply do not bring their children to school,” he says.

Legg says there are about 350 students whose absenteeism is excessive and warrants a truancy petition. The district will chip away at filing those petitions to help the courts keep from getting backed up.