La Grande council unanimously approves resolution allowing county truancy ordinance within city limits

LA GRANDE — Efforts to create a county-wide truancy ordinance took a step forward during the La Grande City Council regular session on Wednesday, April 3.

Councilors unanimously voted to adopt the resolution after hearing from La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza, Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen and Union County District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel.

“This is something that is going to increase student attendance, but also increase the tools that the school district and our community as a whole can have to make sure that students are successful and also safe,” McDaniel said.

The resolution allows the county and the school district to enforce the ordinance within the city limits of La Grande, according to City Manager Robert Strope. Without this step, a county ordinance would not be enforceable within the city.

“So we’re enabling the county, assuming the county adopts their ordinance, to move forward with this program,” Strope said.

The ordinance will give school districts and Union County the ability to issue citations to parents and the guardians of students who are chronically absent. The ordinance defines chronically absent as those who are absent at least 10% of the time.

The truancy ordinance would apply to students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools in Union County. It would not apply to homeschool students and those attending private schools.

Mendoza clarified that a student being absent for sickness, including mental or behavioral health, is an excused absence and does not count toward chronic absenteeism. Sickness of a student’s family member or an emergency are also considered excused absences.

Councilor Denise Wheeler asked how the school district deals with students with chronic conditions. Mendoza replied that those situations are handled on a case-by-case basis and there are a variety of options depending on the student’s needs.

Putting in the work

The superintendent explained that the school district is already taking steps with social media posts, flyers and lawn signs to spread the message to students and their families of the importance of regularly attending school.

“You attend, you participate and you pass, and if you can do those three things, it’s hard not to graduate. It’s hard not to be successful,” Mendoza said.

Last year, 62% of students were regular attenders within the La Grande School District, according to Mendoza. The remaining 38% of students were chronically absent — meaning they missed 17 or more days of school.

“It is hard for people to be successful when they’re gone a lot,” he said.

The school district uses a green zone, yellow zone and red zone approach to address issues of attendance. The green zone includes classroom activities, rewards, incentives and celebrations to promote attendance.

Mendoza said when they get to the yellow zone it means the school district is meeting with children and families to have conversations about the importance of coming to school and figuring out what support the student needs.

Getting into the red zone, the school district will start sending letters telling families they are out of compliance with the law and school policy. Mendoza said the school district does its best to get that student to attend and will formalize a plan with the student and his or her family.

“But that doesn’t always still change the behavior and, the reality is, we felt like at the highest part of our red zone is having the ability to give a citation, to have a meeting with the judge and for us to talk about their attendance and to see what we can do to get that to change,” he said.

Councilor David Glabe asked how effective this ordinance would be — especially when also considering the class environment as a whole and students’ ability to learn.

Mendoza recognized that these were good points to consider. He said the theme of the district’s messaging is that students stay on track to graduate by showing up. If students aren’t showing up, the school district has to have these meetings.

“We have to help get the child to school regularly. We have to create the pressure and support that’s necessary for the change,” he said. “But if that’s still not working, we have conversations with parents when we say, ‘This might not be what you want then.’ There’s online schools, there’s homeschool, there are other options for you, but you not showing up isn’t an option that we are comfortable with.”

District attorney weighs in

McDaniel said the District Attorney’s Office would be involved since citation would ultimately come to the Union County Circuit Court.

“This is a tool, but it’s supposed to be used and I intend for it to be used as an absolute last resort,” she said.

The ordinance would be similar to a state law that was in place for years until a portion of it was repealed in April 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic that was causing many students to miss school. School districts and counties had the ability to issue citations to the parents and guardians of students who were chronically absent until that time.

McDaniel explained that she appeared in court on these quite a bit before 2021 and can remember only one instance of a fine being imposed. She said the judges listened to what the school district and families had to say about what was needed to get that specific student to attend school. Solutions were often creative and outside the box, including things like joining a sport team or showing the judge their attendance record during lunch.

She added that there were many parents who were grateful for the citation because it allowed the judge to have a conversation with the children about the importance of regular attendance.

“I can think of one scenario in which the citation process, I believe, saved a child’s life because there was no one asking the questions or following up or going to that home to find out what was going on behind closed doors before an administrator showed up to issue a citation and found out that child was not in a safe home,” McDaniel said.

Fines

Under the proposed ordinance, the court will order the student to regularly attend school and order their family to see that the student attends school regularly. The court may also impose a civil penalty on the family of up to $500 for the first offense and up to $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

Glabe asked how this amount was decided. He thought the fines were an “egregious amount” and was worried about families’ abilities to pay.

McDaniel explained that Union County is the third county in Oregon to consider a truancy ordinance and the proposed ordinance mirrors the financials of what Crook and Malheur counties implemented. She said the language of the Union County ordinance actually differs from the other ordinances because it says the court may impose a fine rather than requiring a penalty.

“That was very important to all the superintendents and community partners, that it was ‘may,’ and we were giving that discretion to the court,” she said.

The district attorney further added that there is Oregon case law that says judges cannot impose a fine that is unrealistic for the individual’s personal financial situation. The judge is required to consult with the person about their income and financial status.

“It would be unconstitutional for them to issue a fine, even if it was within the scope of that $500 or $1,000, if it was unreasonable or egregious for them as an individual,” she said.