7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
District-217 Adjusts Truancy Policy
The Abingdon School District's top-ranking administrator has inflicted change upon the middle and high school truancy policy.

A state law passed last year stipulated nine absences, not eighteen, would make a student chronically truant. Within District-217, Superintendent David Black says Abingdon students were being considered truant after being five minutes late to school.

The state, however, allows for forty-five minutes. Effective next year, Black says the district's handbook will reflect the same.

"I just made the decision and changed it so that we're complying with the state and we're not setting a crazy number that makes us look like we've got a bunch of kids that aren't going to school," Black said. "Because it was more about dealing with the five minute limit than it was anything else."

The Illinois State Board of Education collects their own truancy statistics through the data school districts provide them. Each district is allowed to set their own arbitrary number that doesn't affect what the state identifies as being truant.

The state's truancy law does carry stiffer penalties that includes possible fines for parents or even jail time.
06 19 12 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.