By Melissa B. Taboada
Austin American Statesman
Jan. 2, 2012
Akins High School sophomore Marisol Castro Soto said she had fallen in with the wrong crowd.
She and her friends would frequently skip school or show up to classes at their leisure. But when the 16-year-old was threatened with going before a judge because of her absences, Marisol knew it was time for a change.
She volunteered for the Austin school district’s new truancy program, which uses GPS trackers to help prompt students to go to class more often. Students who miss more than 10 days of school lose credit for their courses, officials said. At that point, students and parents may be summoned to court for truancy and may face misdemeanor charges and fines and be found criminally negligent.
Unlike the controversial Radio Frequency Identification System, or RFID, tags the Northside school district made mandatory at two San Antonio area campuses, the Austin program requires student and parental written consent.
The Austin district implemented the program this school year at nine high schools, targeting the campuses with a high number of students who are chronically absent, district administrators said. Students at Akins, Crockett, Eastside Memorial, International, Lanier, LBJ, McCallum, Travis and Reagan high schools participate. Austin, Bowie and Anderson high schools are the only traditional campuses not on that list.
Read the full article.
She volunteered for the Austin school district’s new truancy program, which uses GPS trackers to help prompt students to go to class more often. Students who miss more than 10 days of school lose credit for their courses, officials said. At that point, students and parents may be summoned to court for truancy and may face misdemeanor charges and fines and be found criminally negligent.
Unlike the controversial Radio Frequency Identification System, or RFID, tags the Northside school district made mandatory at two San Antonio area campuses, the Austin program requires student and parental written consent.
The Austin district implemented the program this school year at nine high schools, targeting the campuses with a high number of students who are chronically absent, district administrators said. Students at Akins, Crockett, Eastside Memorial, International, Lanier, LBJ, McCallum, Travis and Reagan high schools participate. Austin, Bowie and Anderson high schools are the only traditional campuses not on that list.
Read the full article.
