The Superintendent's Plan

Superintendent’s Plan to Improve Student Attendance in Douglas and Sarpy Counties

Introduction:

"The Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties is the creation of the Nebraska Legislature. Within its boundaries are eleven school districts in the Omaha metropolitan area. Statutorily, an Advisory Committee comprised of the eleven superintendents of the Learning Community member districts is given certain responsibilities and duties.

In 2011, those were expressly expanded to the creation of a plan by the superintendents designed to combat the adverse impact of absenteeism has on students and schools. The statutory authority and duty of the superintendents require a plan "to reduce excessive absenteeism including a process to share information regarding at-risk youth with the goal of improving educational outcomes, providing effective intervention that impact risk factors, and reducing unnecessary penetration deeper into the juvenile justice system." At-risk youth are defined as "under the jurisdiction of the Office of Probation Administration, are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Human Services, are otherwise involved in the juvenile justice system, or have been absent from school for more than five days per year or the hourly equivalent except when excused by school authorities or when a documented illness makes attendance impossible or impracticable."

It is within this framework that the Superintendents Advisory Committee presents this plan with its twin objectives of (a) meeting statutory duties and (b) creating a comprehensive school district/community approach to absenteeism that is cooperative, innovative, and based on solid research and experience. The plan is organized in four parts:

Part I Prevention and Early Intervention (GOALS)

Part II Mandatory Absence Referral to County Attorney

Part III Tracking and Monitoring

Part IV Plan Review

Nebraska Statute

*underlined language was added in both 2010 and 2011 legislation

Statute 79-209

In all school districts in this state, any superintendent, principal, teacher, or member of the school board who knows of any violation of section 79-201 on the part of any child of school age, his or her parent, the person in actual or legal control of such child, or any other person shall within three days report such violation to the attendance officer of the school, who shall investigate the case. When of his or her personal knowledge, by report or complaint from any resident of the district, or by report or complaint as provided in this section, the attendance officer believes that any child is unlawfully absent from school, the attendance officer shall immediately investigate.

All school districts shall have a written policy on excessive absenteeism developed in collaboration with the county attorney of the county in which the principal office of the school district is located. The policy shall include a provision indicating how the school district and the county attorney will handle cases in which excessive absences are due to documented illness that makes attendance impossible or impracticable, and the policy shall state the number of absences or the hourly equivalent upon the occurrence of which the school shall render all services in its power to compel such child to attend some public, private, denominational, or parochial school, which the person having control of the child shall designate, in an attempt to address the problem of excessive absenteeism. The number of absences in the policy shall not exceed five days per quarter or the hourly equivalent. School districts may use excused and unexcused absences for purposes of the policy. Such services shall include, but need not be limited to:

(1) One or more meetings between a school attendance officer, school social worker or the school principal or a member of the school administrative staff designated by the school administration if such school does not have a school social worker, the child's parent or guardian, and the child, if necessary, to report and to attempt to solve the problem of excessive absenteeism;

(2) Educational counseling to determine whether curriculum changes, including, but not limited to, enrolling the child in an alternative education program that meets the specific educational and behavioral needs of the child, would help solve the problem of excessive absenteeism;

(3) Educational evaluation, which may include a psychological evaluation, to assist in determining the specific condition, if any, contributing to the problem of excessive absenteeism, supplemented by specific efforts by the school to help remedy any condition diagnosed; and

(4) Investigation of the problem of excessive absenteeism by the school social worker, or if such school does not have a school social worker, by the school principal or a member of the school administrative staff designated by the school administration, to identify conditions which may be contributing to the problem. If services for the child and his or her family are determined to be needed, the school social worker or the school principal or a member of the school administrative staff performing the investigation shall meet with the parent or guardian and the child to discuss any referral to appropriate community agencies for economic services, family or individual counseling, or other services required to remedy the conditions that are contributing to the problem of excessive absenteeism.

If the child is absent more than twenty days per year or the hourly equivalent, the attendance officer shall file a report with the county attorney of the county in which such person resides. The county attorney may file a complaint against a person violating section 79-201 before the judge of the county court of the county in which such person resides charging such person with violation of section 79-201 or may file a petition under the Nebraska Juvenile Code alleging the person violating section 79-201 is a juvenile described in subdivision (3)(a) or (3)(b) of section 43-247. Nothing in this section shall preclude a county attorney from being involved at any stage in the process to address excessive absenteeism.

Statute 79-2121

The superintendent of any school districts that are members of a learning community shall develop and participate in a plan by August 1, 2011, to reduce excessive absenteeism including a process to share information regarding at-risk youth with the goal of improving educational outcomes, providing effective intervention that impact risk factors, and reducing unnecessary penetration deeper into the juvenile justice system. For purposes of this section, at-risk youth means children who are under the jurisdiction of the Office of Probation Administration, are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Human Services, are otherwise involved in the juvenile justice system, or have been absent from school for more than five days per year or the hourly equivalent except when excused by school authorities or when a documented illness makes attendance impossible or impracticable.

Background and Philosophy

The superintendents, along with numerous involved members of the metropolitan area, have a common understanding that students who come to school reflect our wider community. It is impossible to isolate the "school" within the wall of the school building. Therefore, effective strategies to keep students in school must be linked to the wider community. At the same time, evidence shows that prevention, early identification, and intervention each are unique and vital components of ensuring a successful school experience. Prevention encompasses those school and community programs aimed at keeping students involved, active, and able to attend school regularly. Across the metro area, each school district, along with community providers, is actively engaged in numerous absence-prevention programs. Intervention arises when, despite those efforts, a student is becoming absent excessively, prior to the 20-day timeframe when Nebraska law mandates that a student be referred to the county attorney. The superintendents know that an organized and fully active partnership between school and community with specific objectives, planned sustainability, and the ability to take advantage of the full panoply of rights and responsibilities offered by the laws and regulations of Nebraska will result in successful intervention for students in the metro area.

The superintendent’s plan for prevention and early intervention, Greater Omaha Attendance and Learning Services (GOALS), is founded on current school district absence prevention policies, practices, programs, and initiatives and the current informal, collaborative structure that has been in place over the past two years. In 2010, a group consisting of law enforcement, the courts, and school district representatives came together to initiate a court-supervised diversion program. A part of their efforts evolved into what has been informally known as the Truancy Triage Treatment Team. This team realized that information sharing, regular monitoring, personal family visits, and a multi-disciplinary approach that brought together stakeholders with statutory accountability for children (including the Douglas and Sarpy County Separate Juvenile Courts, the Douglas and Sarpy County Attorney’s Offices, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS), the Douglas and Sarpy County Juvenile Assessment Centers, Region VI, state probation, and school districts) provided a swift and effective response to absenteeism.

GOALS builds on this collaboration through creation of a formal Interlocal Agreement between the eleven school districts, NDHHS, the Douglas and Sarpy County Juvenile Assessment Centers, state probation, the Douglas and Sarpy County Separate Juvenile Representatives from these entities would then become the "GOALS team". The essence of the Interlocal Agreement is that each of these entities will commit personnel and in-kind resources to assure a regular and formal structure by which individually-identifiable student information can be shared, within the constraints of state and federal privacy laws, to accomplish effective intervention for at-risk students before they become "truant". The members of the Interlocal Agreement anticipate working with a broad group of community entities, as further described in the plan that will effectively provide the support network students and families need to achieve regular attendance and avoid truancy. Ultimately, it is the intent of this plan to intervene at the building level, district level, and GOALS Team level at the earliest stages of problematic student absenteeism and/or at-risk behavior so as to improve student attendance and prevent children from being referred to the County Attorney.

PART I

PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION (GOALS)

GOALS MISSION: To address increasing absenteeism and at-risk behavior prior to the twenty day threshold without the creation of additional governmental bureaucracy through encouragement of coordinated local efforts to improve school outcomes.

GOALS PURPOSE: To define absence and identify excessive absenteeism, provide early assessment of its causes, and to provide the prompt delivery of coordinated interventions to prevent continued unauthorized absences and/or at-risk behavior.

GOALS Pyramid of Intervention:

Step One: Building Level Intervention – Building personnel intervene immediately (following district policies/procedures and state law) when a child is showing signs of problematic absenteeism and/or at risk behavior. Each school building must access and exhaust all building interventions and resources prior to referring a child to the district/community level (Step Two). Building interventions may include but are not limited to daily phone calls to parents/guardians, notification letters to parents/guardians, parent/guardian-student-teacher-administrator conferences, educational counseling, educational evaluation, appropriate academic placement, academic tutoring, advisement programs, extended school day placement, appropriate programmatic placement, school resources officer involvement, etc.. Interventions are designed to promote regular school attendance and prevent children from being referred to the County Attorney.

Step Two: District/Community Intervention – When a school building has accessed and exhausted all building level interventions and resources, district and community interventions are utilized. The school district must access and exhaust all district interventions and resources prior to referring a child to the GOALS team. District interventions may include but are not limited to: Involvement of district social workers, district level school psychologist, central office administration, district level academic support programs, referral for review of housing needs, transportation needs, health care and behavioral health needs, family needs, referral to faith-based organizations, referral to appropriate community service providers, etc.. Interventions are designed to promote regular school attendance and prevent children from being referred to the County Attorney.

Step Three: Referral to GOALS Team

Assessment Tools may include:

SRAS – Student Refusal Attendance Survey

Further analysis of type of absenteeism and proximal/distal factors (see, e.g., Christopher Kearney research)

YLS-CMI – Youth Level Service Inventory and Case Management Inventory

MYSI – Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory

DISC – mental/physical health screening

DPS – Diagnostic Productive Scale

40 Developmental Assets

SDM – assessment for status offenders

Structured Decision Making Model – (safety/risk assessment – neglect)

NDHHS Safety – Risk Assessment

Step Four: The GOALS Team will identify targeted interventions through service coordination. The interventions will be designed to promote regular school attendance and prevent children from being referred to the County Attorney.

GOALS TEAM STRUCTURE: Nebraska law gives public agencies the capacity to exercise and enjoy jointly any power or privilege or authority exercised or capable of exercise by one or more of the public agencies. This is conferred through the Interlocal Cooperation Act.

It is understood that appropriate action by ordinance, resolution, or otherwise pursuant to law of the governing bodies of the participating public agencies is necessary before the Agreement may enter into force. The Agreement, a draft of which is included, specifies its duration, the general organization, composition, purposes and nature of the cooperative action, the manner by which it will be afforded (financed through in-kind services, permitted to accept donations of resources, funds, and donations of equipment and supplies, and maintenance of a budget), provision of administration of the joint undertaking, and how any real or personal property used in the joint undertaking will be acquired, held and disposed of.

GOALS does not require additional funding to accomplish its basic mission. In-kind support for GOALS is based on the current informal structure, which relies on the simple coordination of information through staff that regularly meet, confer, and target intervention approaches. However, it is anticipated that as its success grows, involved community members may see wisdom in creating an actual center, accessible by parents, at or through which trained staff can more broadly coordinate services among the Interlocal partners and other community participants. For example, collaboration has been with, and may continue to include, among others:

Amachi Mentoring

Avenue Scholars
Boys and Girls Club
Building Bright Futures
City of Omaha (Middle School After-School Program)
Goodwill Mentoring
Kim Foundation
Latino Center for the Midlands
Lutheran Family Services
Methodist Hospital Community Counselors
Project Harmony
The Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties
Urban League

Pooling the existing resources makes a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. GOALS supports the removal of barriers to effectively intervene on behalf of youth and families and sharing data and information to improve the individual functions of each and every agency working together on behalf of the greater community.

GOALS Day to Day: At the onset, GOALS is envisioned as regular meetings of all organizations in the joint interlocal throughout the year, on a weekly or bi-monthly basis, with the ability to adjust the frequency of such meetings given the unique and changing circumstances and needs of the agencies and students. GOALS collaborative team will define how and when students will be referred to GOALS. In addition, GOALS organizations will be meeting with key constituents, including local government officials, to assist in maintenance of GOALS vision and purposes. Administrative duties will be shared by the interlocal member agencies. Service functions (screening and assessment, training, developing a service provision catalogue of community providers and contact access, and case management) will be conducted by the various members to their specific skills as agreed upon by the members.

Families play an integral part of GOALS success. Each student referred to the GOALS team will have an informal family services plan. This plan includes (a) identification of the conduct of the child, caretaker, or any family member which is causing harm and the services needed to mitigate or eliminate the problems within the family unit; (b) a description of the services which are needed for the child, his caretakers, or other family members, the availability of such services within the community, and a plan for ensuring that any such services are available to be secured and delivered; (c) a description of all expected action to be taken by the child, his caretakers, or other family members; (d) the name of the person within the affected public service agency who is directly responsible for assuring that the informal family service plan agreement in implemented; and (e) an estimate of the time anticipated to accomplish the goals set out in the agreement. It is expected that families will demonstrate their obligations to help their child achieve regular attendance and avoid absenteeism that leads to truancy.

GOALS services may also incorporate referrals for clinical counseling and therapeutic services such as parenting classes, anger management, academic counseling, tutoring, psychiatric/psychological/physical evaluations, individual and family therapy, in-home services, wrap-around services, and medical care including school-based health centers. GOALS will have the authority to accept grants to fund the purchase of such services for families.

--------------------------ALL OF THE ABOVE IS TO HAPPEN BEFORE A STUDENT REACHES 20 ABSENCES AND BECOMES A STATUS OFFENDER UNDER THE STATES COMPOLSORY EDUCTION STATUTE 79-209------------------------

PART II

For the 2011-2012 school year, each school district shall use the Referral for Violation of Mandatory Attendance Policy form when reporting students to the county attorney that are absent more than twenty days per year or the hourly equivalent.

DOUGLAS COUNTY

At the present time, Douglas County utilizes an 1184 Truancy Triage Treatment Team, All referrals in excess of twenty days are reviewed by this team. This 1184 team follows the requirements of Neb. Stat. Sec. 28:728-733. This team operates as a multi-disciplinary/multi-agency collaborative. The team meets as needed. During the 2010-2011 school year this team met at least once a week and sometimes twice a week. The team reviews each referral and determines the response level (Levels I-IV) necessary to assist the child and correct the problem. Response/intervention recommendations are made in the best interest of the child and forwarded to the county attorney’s office.

SARPY COUNTY

At the present time, all referrals are reviewed by the county attorney assigned to the case. The county attorney determines the response level (Levels I-IV) necessary to assist the child and correct the problem. Response/intervention recommendations are made in the best interest of the child.

RESPONSE LEVELS

LEVEL I Screen and Monitor

LEVEL II Assess, Plan, Motivate and Monitor

LEVEL III Intense Intervention, Monitoring, and Evaluation

LEVEL IV Filing in Juvenile Court

PART III

TRACKING AND MONITORING

If the Douglas or Sarpy County Attorney’s Office chooses not to file a mandatory referral, each respective school district can file an additional referral if absences accumulate to a level of concern as determined by district policies.

PART IV

PLAN REVIEW

Twice in the school year, representatives from each entity will meet to discuss progress issues and concern.

Each summer, representatives from each entity will meet to review the plan and propose recommendations to the superintendents. This meeting should include school personnel that deal with attendance issues on a daily basis. The superintendents will then convene and consider the recommendations from the meeting to make changes/improvements to the plan. Recommendations for legislative changes may also be developed at this time