by Jay Diaz, Esq.
THE CHILDREN’S CORNER
Chronically Absent Students or
Chronically Absentminded Policies?
How Vermont Can Change its Truancy System to Keep
Kids in School and Stop the School-to-Prison-Pipeline
It was a sun-drenched summer afternoon
that I arrived at the courthouse to meet my
clients, Jenny and Ben.1 Jenny is the single mother of Ben, a stout ten year-old boy.
Ben was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a mild form of autism,
at an early age and has been on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) at school
since he was six. Although a loving boy, he
has presented many challenging behaviors
throughout his life. His needs and behaviors, in addition to Jenny’s own disabilities,
have forced Jenny to drop out of a master’s
program and she is unable to maintain regular employment. It has never been easy.
On this particular day, the pair was in
family court because Ben misses a lot of
school. He regularly refuses to leave home
when it is time to go to school and he is
also sick more frequently than other students. He refuses to leave for a number of
reasons: he’s afraid to leave his mom alone,
he is afraid of storms, and he fears being
stung by bees. When he is not physically ill,
it will typically take his mom three to four
hours to get him to dress, eat, take care of
basic hygiene needs, and leave for school.
Throughout the mornings he will cry, become upset, throw things, undress, and
simply refuse to leave.
Because of Ben’s absences and late arrivals, his school sent a request to the local
state’s attorney’s office asking that a “Child
in Need of Care or Supervision” truancy
(CHINS(D)) petition be filed in the family
court. Under Title 33 of Vermont law, upon
request of a school dis