According to the Lebanon Daily News, the Lebanon school board unanimously agreed to settle a lawsuit involving the district’s truancy policy and accusations that it excessively fined parents of minority students with multiple unexcused absences.
Continue reading...The Providence Journal reports that the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of a suit brought by American Civil Liberties Union challenging the constitutional validity of truancy courts.
Continue reading...The Lebanon Daily News reports that a federal district court has denied Lebanon School District’s (LSD) motion to dismiss a class action suit brought by a group of parents over truancy fines.
Continue reading...According to the Columbian, Washington’s Senate has approved legislation addressing the problem of school dropouts by offering schools and school districts that lower their dropout rates cash awards. After the House passed House Bill 1599, the Pay for Actual Student Success Act, the Senate approved the legislation in a 40-6 vote. HB 1599 is now headed to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s desk.
Continue reading...According to an Associated Press (AP) report in Education Week, the Washington legislature rejected a plan to reduce state school aid to districts with low attendance. Experts, education groups and Gov. Chris Gregoire opposed the proposal on the ground that it would only create new challenges for the state’s poorest districts. While budgeting according to how many students are in school every day is an approach that has been tried in a small number of states as an incentive for improving attendance, the Washington plan was unique in that it was proposed as a budget cutting measure.
Continue reading...The Pennsylvania chapter of the NAACP (NAACP-PA) and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILC) have announced they will be filing a lawsuit challenging Lebanon School District’s (LSD) truancy policy on the grounds it unfairly targets minorities, says the Lebanon Daily News. The federal suit will ask the court to force LSD to stop collecting and repay 500 truancy fines that the organizations allege were excessive and issued illegally. NAACP-PA/PILC’s suit claims that LSD levied $1.3 million in truancy fines in the past eight years, including almost $500,000 in 2008-09 school year. The fines were disproportionately levied against minorities, according to the charges.
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