Everything is bigger in Texas, and that includes the number of children charged with Class C misdemeanors for skipping school.
Texas was one of only two states to consider truancy a crime, and in 2013 the Lone Star State prosecuted over 115,000 kids for missing school.
The result: 17-year-old students were locked up with adult criminals guilty of everything from burglary to violent crimes, all the while missing more school.
Some kids found themselves expelled because of these court-mandated absences, a tragic irony for a truancy system meant to scare teens into taking school seriously.
Now, there’s relief. This week, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that will decriminalize skipping school, making truancy a civil offense.
The old law, Texas Education Code § 25.0951, mandated that schools file charges against students with more than 10 unexcused absences over six months.
Even though they are minors, Texas students facing truancy charges had to appear in adult criminal court, and faced hefty fines of up to $500.
Once found guilty of the crime, students were offered a choice: pay the fines in full, or earn a credit of up to $300 for every day spent in jail. While wealthier families simply wrote checks to get out of the heat, those who couldn’t afford the fines found themselves in a modern day version of debtor’s prison.
In fact, 80 percent of kids prosecuted are identified by the Texas Education Agency as economically disadvantaged.
Just who are these so-called “criminals”? Here are a few examples:
- 17-year-old Diane Tran spent 24 hours in jail for excessive truancy. The honors student, who works multiple jobs on top of taking college classes, was left to fully support her younger sister after her parents divorced and abandoned them. After the judge issued a warning to the teen, he decided to make an example of her. Judge Lanny Moriarty said “If you let one run loose, what are you gonna’ do with the rest of ‘em? A little stay in the jail for one night is not a death sentence.”
- Frank Ward of Baytown, Texas, spent over $1,300 of his Social Security benefits to save his two grandsons from jail time. After a rough family situation that had the two boys moving more than a dozen times in two years, the boys finally ended up 20 miles away from school. With the home not being near a bus route, the pair could not always get to school.
- 12-year-old Peyton Walker of Dallas County, Texas, started suffering from extreme migraines and anxiety at an early age. Her illness led to many “unexcused” days. After failing to appear in court for truancy charges, the 7th grader was arrested and handcuffed at her school. Now 18, Walker is a high school graduate. However, she and her disabled mother still have over $2,000 in pending fines. This hefty amount bars Walker from getting her driver’s license until it is paid.
Outrage over the former laws poured in from nonprofit groups, state legislators, and even the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. On September 1, this new law will take effect.
Truant students will face escalating fines instead of jail time.
Schools will be empowered to impose a “behavior improvement plan” on students as an alternative to court appearances, putting kids into community service and counseling programs instead of prison cells. And schools will no longer be able to refer students to court if their absences are the result of pregnancy, homelessness, or being the primary breadwinner for their family.
Texas’ new law will also expunge the records of past convictions, providing thousands of convicted students a welcome clean slate.
Despite Gov. Abbott making the bill official, it is unclear what will become of the massive amount of money currently owed in truancy fines.
With groups claiming that truancy laws were being used to force students with disabilities out of school, this issue is far from over.