Regional Office of Education reports drop in court petitions for truancy

The Regional Office of Education gave the Williamson County Board an update on its truancy program, saying the office has received nearly 1,000 referrals from local schools this year and moved 27 cases to court after earlier interventions failed.

The report said school-based interventions start with home visits, relationship-building and efforts to remove barriers to attendance; only a small share of referred cases reach the point of a court petition. The ROE representative identified transportation problems, work obligations and caregiving responsibilities as the most common causes of chronic absenteeism and said third, fifth, eighth and ninth grades show the highest rates.

ROE staff described complementary programs the office runs: a “Brain Games” enrichment week that brought more than 500 students together across multiple ROEs, a regional spelling bee with about 40 participants from 25 schools, and professional learning for educators (54 events as of March, reaching more than 3,600 teachers and paraprofessionals). The ROE also said it trained 339 new school bus drivers in the current year and operates an alternative school that has served about 30 students with 11 graduates this year.

The ROE said it recently launched an “alternative learning opportunities” program serving about 130 students across 13 schools, and plans to expand the program next year while collecting outcome data to share with districts. The presentation closed with calendar notes about graduation (May 22) and other upcoming events.

Board members did not take formal action on the report; it was presented as an informational update.