Audio clip
Judge Bob Moon
General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon wants the parents of truant students to stand in front of his court bench and answer for their children’s poor attendance record.
But the Hamilton County school system attorney says that can’t happen without some changes in current policy. The law ties administrators’ hands on where they can adjudicate truancy cases, says attorney Scott Bennett, so they’ll have to stick with the current system.
And that system is working, he contends.
State and federal laws block the school system from sharing confidential student attendance records and other information with any court division other than a juvenile court, Mr. Bennett wrote in a four-page letter to Hamilton County Sessions Court judges.
Judge Moon said those laws are directed only at prosecuting the juveniles themselves — not their parents.
“When it comes to truancy laws that deal with juveniles, that deal with those under the age 18, there is no question that those juveniles that are truant will have their cases resolved through Hamilton County Juvenile Court,” Judge Moon said. “But we are more focused on the cause of truancy, which we think is largely the responsibility of the parents and the guardians.”
Mr. Bennett’s letter came about two weeks after county government leaders met with school system officials to discuss truancy. Mr. Bennett hopes a meeting on Feb. 17 with Sessions Court judges and Juvenile Court Judge Suzanne Bailey can iron out a new policy that could allow Sessions Court to help the school system with problem parents.
In his letter, Mr. Bennett said that after issuing written notices to parents informing them of their child’s’ habitual absenteeism, the superintendent of schools should report habitually and unlawfully absent students to the appropriate judge having juvenile jurisdiction in that county. That’s not the Sessions Court, but the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, he contends.
Parents can eventually face charges in Cession Court if the Juvenile Court refers the case to the district attorney, and Judge Moon said he doesn’t believe that has ever taken place.
Judge Moon said Knox and Marion counties have a better system. In those counties parents are prosecuted in General Sessions Court for their child’s lack of attendance.
“(In Marion County) the very next day, after a parent was convicted under these circumstances, the Marion County Public Schools had the highest attendance in its history,” Judge Moon said.
Those counties are set up differently than Hamilton County. In Knox County in 2006, a judge ordered the school system to hand down the attendance information to the district attorney. In Marion County, juvenile and sessions courts are one in the same, based on a review of court records.
Even with that system, Mr. Bennett’s letter noted that Hamilton County apparently is doing a better job with attendance than Knox County.
“In middle schools, Knox County had an attendance rate of 92.89 percent compared to an attendance rate of 93.8 percent in Hamilton County,” Mr. Bennett wrote. “In high schools, Knox County had an attendance rate of 90.08 percent compared to an attendance rate in Hamilton County of 91.3 percent.”
But Mr. Bennett said there is room for compromise. He said since the Juvenile Court already receives attendance date, a liaison could be established and that person could deliver cases in which parents are responsible for truancy to the district attorney for prosecution.
He also proposed that the Hamilton County Juvenile Court could issue an order like the one in Knox County that orders officials to share truancy reports with the district attorney’s office for prosecution.
Both those options would allow the system Judge Moon wants, but also conform to the law, Mr. Bennett said.
Judge Moon said the issue of truancy is a public safety concern, and that if his court wants to offer help, the school system shouldn’t turn it away.
“Very few people have I ever put in jail that were not truant students first,” Judge Moon said. “At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about it. Truancy contributes to the taxpayers paying $33 million in Hamilton County on correctional costs.”
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
The judges need to disclose how many days of work they missed in a calender year, before parent are incarcerated. The judges should also disclose the cost to tax payers for their missed days at work for docket backlog. If the school system releases my child's education records that are protected under FERPA to any authority other than juvinile system, see ya in court fellors.
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