Youth promoted despite missing 129 school days

**Rhiamon** · 06-18-2010, 09:39 PM

This was in my local paper today. What seriously???????

Youth promoted despite missing 129 school days
EDUCATION: Boy only attended eight full days of school

A 13-year-old boy will be going to high school this September despite rarely attending class in Grade 8.

The youth missed 129 days of school this year, and of the 38 days he attended school, records show he showed up late 30 times.

"This situation is just ridiculous," said the boy's mother, who cannot be named because the youth has been charged with truancy, a criminal matter.

The woman split acrimoniously from the boy's father two years ago and does not have custody but says she is alarmed by her son's attendance record.

"There has to be some accountability here. If he's not going to school, he should not be allowed to pass."

The mother said she has repeatedly complained to the school, but has been told that despite the youth's astonishing number of absences, he will not be made to repeat the grade.

"The board says he's not graduating per se -- they're calling it an advancement," she said.

"He won't be allowed to go to the Grade 8 graduation, but he will be allowed to go to Grade 9 next year, and I don't think that's right. There were some periods of 20 educational days where he was there for .5."

The woman said her son's attendance was poor in Grade 7, when he missed 69 days, but he was still promoted to Grade 8.

The youth has been charged with truancy, which is a provincial offence under Section 30 of the Education Act.

"We seldom lay a charge (of truancy), and it's something we take very seriously," said JoAnne Payne of the Limestone District School Board, who was unable to discuss the specifics of the case owing to legal and privacy concerns but said truancy charges are the last step when a student does not attend school.

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Provincial law requires students to attend school or an approved educational program until their 18th birthday.

Ontario's truancy laws allow for fines of as much as $1,000 to be imposed on habitual truants, and their parents can also be charged. Very few truancy charges are laid in Ontario each year, and they typically involve high school-aged youths.

A judge can also order a youth to attend school and make it a condition of probation.

The mother said that in February, the student got a letter from his school warning him that he faced charges if his attendance did not improve, and he immediately switched to another school in the city.

He will go into Grade 9 with the rest of his classmates despite attending only eight full days of school.

Payne said that decision was made by the teachers and administrators who know the child and his case.

Payne said students can be promoted to a higher grade based on a number of factors, such as getting them into a high school with more supports and resources than the typical elementary school, or keeping them with a peer group, a practice known as social promotion.

"There isn't a recipe that we use," said Payne, saying that each case is examined individually.

A large body of academic research has concluded that holding children back does not help them catch up and carries a social stigma that outweighs any good of repeating a grade. Children who are held back are also more likely to drop out of school, although that could be a reflection of the difficulty they are having with school.

Payne said that when a child is missing school, attendance is not the issue in itself but is usually an indicator of things happening in their life that have to be addressed.

"We see non-attendance as the tip of the iceberg," she said.

While not delving into the specifics of this case, she said a student who is habitually absent is assigned to an attendance counsellor, a school board staff person who replaced the old truant officers.

They visit the child's home, talk to the parents either alone or together and work with other agencies that may become involved with the family, such as the Children's Aid Society or the youth mental health system.

That process can go on for some time, particularly if the parents are not co-operative.

Payne says the board's main goal is to get the child back into school.

"For an elementary student, if they are not in school, they are getting more and more behind," she said. "We do all we can to engage the student and get them back into school."

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-18-2010, 09:52 PM

Ok, that's utterly ridiculous. If I was his principal, I'd throw him back to 7th grade.

**mauimagic** · 06-19-2010, 12:27 AM

A very strange practice that does seem wrong to me. Is the father not being held accountable for his son's behavior? Could they possibly be handing off a problem situation to another school? Hate to hear this happening anywhere.

**dcompton** · 06-19-2010, 08:01 PM

I can see the point that putting him back with younger children could create even more problems. This is a trainwreck of an education whatever happens. The charge is justified. But it seems that the father who has custody should be facing some charges of his own, if he isn't. But then, who knows what's going on there. It's sad for the boy. His future doesn't look bright.

**militlady** · 06-20-2010, 12:55 AM

I obviously don't know the family dynamic but it sounds like the father needs to be charged with neglect/abuse and the son needs to be forced to repeat at the very least the 8th grade. Sounds like the school is just trying to pass off their inadequacies. Passing him on to the 9th grade when he hasn't earned it is not doing him any favors. In our state if you miss a certain number of hours (not days) you repeat the grade.

**ahmom** · 06-20-2010, 11:47 AM

This doesn't shock me. Way back in the 80's a classmate never went to school very much. She graduated.

**mndtrp** · 06-20-2010, 11:19 PM

I'm not used to seeing articles where an irresponsible child is actually deemed irresponsible by a parent. Good for her, boo on the school.

**Dancing Lotus** · 06-20-2010, 11:26 PM

Im not sure why CPS isn't involved and finding out why this child is not in school and what the father is doing?!

**monkeywrangler71** · 06-21-2010, 09:48 AM

You can't fail a grade in Ontario, it might hurt your feelings.

**Rhiamon** · 06-21-2010, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by monkeywrangler71

You can't fail a grade in Ontario, it might hurt your feelings.

That is pretty much true. We have always said that DD would not pass if she did not know what she needed to know. That we would be the ones to leave her behind. We were even thinking about it at mid year and even spoke to her teacher about it. But the teachers said her reading and writting have come a long way and that we were very involved parents and have been working hard with her. We have noticed that she has come along way.
DH has a LD and they didn't leave him behind until grade 3, and it was at his parents making a stink because he could not read, and the school never said anything.
Here they don't do anything until grade 3. DH and I had a fight with the school to get DD tested she is in grade one. Because we knew something was wrong. We even ended up going to an outside source our local children's mental health group. They did the testing and we were told she had ADHD, a LD, and an impulse control issue. We knew something was wrong, and knew she was struggling at home and at school. But what do we know we are just her parents.
We love the school she is at now because every time we see the teacher they tell us how bright she is, and how much she is catching up. Because of the testing she now has the extra help. What would have happened to her if we waited until grade 3? Her other teachers in JK, and SK never had anything nice to say about her. It was heart breaking she never wanted to go to school.
I don't understand why waiting and not do anything about it until children are older is supposed to be better. How can you move someone to the next grade if they don't know the work? I have to say that a lot of parents take a back seat to there child’s education. At least that is the way it seems to me anymore. Too much TV, not enough parent envolment, not enough outside play, and nobody paying attention. We have a difficult child, who at times can have violent outburst, but in the same respect she talks to us about everything. Especial me, I know everything that is going on, because I have made an effort to let her know that I care, she can tell me anything, and that home was always her safe place. It is sad to think about what is happening to many children these days. What I find sad about this whole thing is the school, the parents and the law has let this child down.

**Lady_V** · 06-21-2010, 11:20 AM

What a different place this... Ontario... is

I know schools here do 'social promotion' but it usually for the children on an IEP who receive their lessons outside the mainstream class.

In MA you are allowed 10-20 days. Depends on the school.

My DD attends private, and if she is going to be out, I have to call the office by 9am.

I wish I could copy the schools polices...

~ more than 5 absent days per trimester - record is reviewed by admin.
~ more than 15 absent days (and equivalents) - up for review and may be dismissed from school or not-promoted
~ 10 tardy days = 1 absent and 30 mins detention (admin may wave tardy for bad weather)

In other words... your kid doesn't show, your kid doesn't GO!

Amazing that they will allow him to pass, "just because"... sad actually.

**ml2620** · 06-21-2010, 05:09 PM

If the dad was the custodial parent and never made the kid go to school, what kind of mother must she be? And how could she let it go on so long?

**joyofsix** · 06-21-2010, 08:53 PM

Wow! Obviously the whole family is 'out there'.

**McD** · 06-21-2010, 09:20 PM

I didn't go to school much my senior year and I was ranked 7th in my class. However, I did make up all my work and that.

This kid....is jsut something else. I can't believe the admin at the school would jsut pass him. Well actually, I can...and that is what is really sad about the situation.