Truancy puts parents in court, BCPS emphasizes support

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles about how the Burke County Public Schools’ strategic plan “All-In Promise: Leading the Way” aligns with the State Department of Public Instruction’s eight “Pillars of Excellence.” Today focuses on pillars 3 and 4.

Last Monday, Jan. 5, three separate guardians took the stand in district court, facing charges for their children’s truancy. One guardian, a grandmother, left the courtroom in handcuffs and spent the night in jail.

As for the other two, the judge gave them continuances to June, meaning the parents went home to care for their families until their next court date.

However, for every unexcused absence their child collects between Jan. 5 and the end of the school year, each respective parent will accrue a day behind bars, the judge said.

Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) Director of Student and Family Services Dr. Dillon Sain explained that, despite that day in court, charges against parents have actually declined since the 2022-2023 school year.

“Attendance took a hit after COVID and now we are seeing a positive increase in overall attendance,” Sain said. “Truancy charges only take into account unexcused absences. … At the moment, our overall attendance so far is 94.69%.”

This improvement is reflected in the metrics since the school year that started in 2022 — from 93.17% in 2022-2023 to 93.68% in 2023-2024, and 94.01% in 2024-2025.

Excused absences require a note from parents and include illness, medical or mental health appointments, court dates, or deaths in the immediate family. An official medical excuse is required if a parent sends in eight handwritten notes — the quantity allotted to guardians before professionals have to get involved.

Unexcused absences consist of any absence without a note, including family vacations and organizational trips.

Last year’s chronic absentee rate — when a student misses 10% or more of the school days in a year — was 6.22% at the end of the year, according to Sain. So far this year, he said it is at 6.68%. There are approximately four and a half months left until summer vacation.

BCPS Public Relations Officer Cheryl Shuffler said, “We have an attendance task force that meets regularly to review the data, brainstorm ways to improve attendance, and look at ways to incentivize and reward attendance. We have an ongoing ‘All In To Attend’ campaign focused on Arise, Attend, and Aspire and pointing out the importance of attendance.”

“All In to Attend” is just one of several initiatives encompassed in the BCPS strategic plan, All-in Promise, launched in 2022. The strategic plan breaks down into a trifecta of goals: Academic Opportunities for All, All Schools Connected to the Community, and All-around Well-being.

“All In to Attend” is a key indicator of success measurement in how well the Burke school district is achieving all three goals.

BCPS Deputy Superintendent Dr. Karen Auton said, “We realize that every family faces situations that are unique and we do our best to work with them within the confines of the compulsory attendance statutes.”

Parents are sent three, six, and 10-day absence letters and also receive an automated call when their student misses school, according to Sain.

“When a student reaches the threshold of six unexcused absences, this is when parents are invited in to work with admin and counselors to try to determine barriers that are affecting attendance and work to address them,” Sain said. “Charges are not considered until absences move past 10 unexcused.”

With the child involved in the case of the arrested grandmother, the caretaker told the judge that she had troubles with getting the child to the school. The grandfather died earlier last year, and the child feared something would happen to her grandmother if she left her side.

DPI’S PILLAR 4

Pillar 4 in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s academic plan specifically addresses behavioral challenges with children, and BCPS Exceptional Children Coordinator and Behavior Services Lead Vivian Radford said support extends beyond the classroom, moving to improve the coping skills of children and their families.

Although practices are preventative in nature, Radford explained how the district uses evidence-based approaches to teach and reinforce positive behavior through training empathy, emotion management, building healthy relationships, and making responsible decisions.

“Throughout the year, school staff participate in professional development focused on classroom management, restorative practices, crisis prevention and de-escalation, trauma-informed practices, and other relevant topics to enhance the creation of safe and supportive learning environments,” she said.

Radford explained the NCDPI defined behavior support as effective if 80% of students receive two or fewer office discipline referrals in the school year — criteria the entire student population has met for the past three years.

Radford said BCPS also partners with local mental health professionals upon parent request, offering behavioral specialists to work with school teams on students with more intensive needs.

“The district has an attendance engagement protocol that guides schools on how to improve attendance and mitigate barriers to attendance for families,” Sain said. “Charging parents for truancy is a last resort.”

ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN STUDENT WELL-BEING

Beyond attendance and emotional education, the district has also implemented a stronger policy surrounding device usage. According to Shuffler, cell phones are not permitted during the day at elementary and middle schools. Students in high school may use them during lunch and class changes.

“The implementation of our device policy as it relates to cell phones and other personal devices was challenging at first, largely because it represented a significant change for students, staff, and families,” Shuffler said. “As we deal with digital natives, it requires a more intentional balance between learning how to use technology responsibly and ensuring it does not become a distraction to learning.”

While there isn’t formal data yet on the effectiveness of the cell phone ban, Shuffler said teachers have anecdotally reported improved attention and classroom engagement.

Furthermore, policies around school-provided devices allow for detailed oversight.

The district uses Gaggle, a web monitoring system that monitors for buzzwords once students log into Google platforms on their school devices.

“Whether it be fight, kill, bully, suicide — it bings immediately and sends an email to the principals and counselors,” Sain said. BCPS uses Gaggle alongside another app, GoGuardian, that scours student web searches for red flags, such as how to make a bomb or sexual content.

The See Something, Say Something app is completely anonymous and available 24/7. Covering everything from suspicious person reports to concerns about suicidal classmates, students have a pathway to report any dangers to the student body. The app alerts school officials when reports are submitted.

“Sometimes me and Mrs. Shuffler get them at 2 a.m.,” Sain said. “It’s tied directly to law enforcement. For example, if the See Something, Say Something company deems it a life emergency event, they actually dispatch police to the house.”

While the occasional false alarm comes through from students, Sain said nine times out of 10, they’re legitimate concerns.

“The program makes you act on every event,” he said. “You have to acknowledge it and say what you did to mitigate it. There’s even a button you click to say it was unfounded.”

Shuffler reiterated that officials follow up on those just as seriously.