Hamilton County Superintendent Rick Smith is seen in this file photo.WHAT’S NEXTThe task force agreed to meet quarterly, beginning Oct. 15.ABOUT THE TASK FORCENine of the 17 task force members came from the education side, while four were a part of the courts staff. The remaining members were from the police, sheriff, and district attorney’s office and the Department of Children’s Services.COMPARING TRUANCY NUMBERSSchool District 2013 2012 2011Hamilton 18,197 truant; 41,699 students; 44 percent 48 percent 29 percentKnox 20,957 truant; 55,796 students; 38 percent 38 percent 39 percentDavidson 29,131 truant; 76,249 students; 38 percent 33 percent 34 percentShelby/Memphis 55,385 truant; 143,849 students; 39 percent 27 percent 22 percentSource: Tennessee Department of Education
The head of Hamilton County Schools and the county’s Juvenile Court judge are putting their heads together over how to stop years of finger-pointing and miscommunication and fix problems with how truant students are handled.
They are working from a report submitted Wednesday by a 17-member task force highlighting loopholes and a start-to-finish assessment of problems with how truancy cases are tracked, reported and resolved.
“This is a very serious problem,” School Superintendent Rick Smith said.
“We’re not the bad guy and the court’s not the bad guy. We’re doing the best that we can to ensure that child gets a good education,” Smith said. “When you see a person who hasn’t gotten a good education, we’re all paying for it.”