Public Schools Take Action When Children Miss Class

When a student's repeat absences become a concern this fall, school and social services authorities in Sarpy and Douglas Counties will cooperate to provide early intervention.

A formal agreement will allow the sharing of information and coordination of services between 11 public school districts, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, juvenile courts, county attorneys and law enforcement officers.

State lawmakers charged superintendents from the school districts in the Learning Community with drawing up the plan to combat excessive absenteeism in the two counties.

A summary of the plan's major points was released Tuesday.

Keith Lutz, superintendent of the Millard Public Schools, said that before a student misses 20 days, authorities will intervene to "triage."

The goal will be to keep a student from being referred to the county attorney.

A 2010 state law requires that the county attorney be notified after a child misses 20 days of school during a year.

Lutz said the agreement marks a commitment to cooperate. In the past, he said, "Everyone was in their own silo."

Nebraska Department of Education statistics show 29 percent of Nebraska's 283,000 public school children miss at least 10 days of school; 14 percent miss at least 15 days; and 7 percent miss 20 days or more.

When a child is showing signs of problematic absenteeism or at-risk behavior, school personnel will make use of strategies such as making daily phone calls, sending notification letters, arranging conferences and providing counseling and educational evaluations.

When school-level resources have been exhausted, school districts will intervene.

District social workers, psychologists and academic specialists will provide services, and referrals also will be made to appropriate community service providers.

The third step will be referral to a "GOALS team," which stands for Greater Omaha Attendance and Learning Services.

The GOALS team will meet weekly to review individual cases and identify the assessments needed to determine the obstacles preventing the child from attending school.

The fourth step will identify interventions. Each student will have a family services plan using existing resources.

Those resources will include such groups as Amachi Mentoring, Avenue Scholars, Boys and Girls Clubs, Building Bright Futures, City of Omaha Middle School After-School Program, Goodwill Mentoring, Kim Foundation, Latino Center for the Midlands, Lutheran Family Services, Methodist Hospital Community Counselors, Project Harmony, the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, and the Urban League.

The plan also calls, in some cases, for referrals to clinical counseling and therapeutic services such as parenting classes, anger management, academic counseling, tutoring, psychiatric or physical evaluations, individual and family therapy, in-home services and medical care, including school-based health centers.