SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL SAFETY AND TRUANCY

COMMITTEE REPORT

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20004
________________________________________________________________________

TO: All Councilmembers

FROM: Sekou Biddle

Chair, Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy

DATE: April 18, 2011

SUBJECT: Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy Interim Report and
Recommendations on School Safety and Truancy Reduction.

The Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy, having conducted two public
hearings on the issue of school safety and truancy, reports its interim recommendations
for review and consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
______________________________________________

Content of the Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy Interim Report

I. Background and Need Page 1

II. Public Hearings Page 6

III. Research on Best Practices Page 28

IV. Committee Recommendations Page 35

V. Committee Action Page 38

VI. Appendix A: Current Laws and Regulations Governing Page 38

Truancy

VII. Appendix B: Public Hearing Page 49

I. Background and Need

The Council of the District of Columbia is deeply concerned about the high truancy rates

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among the District of Columbia public school students. Experience predicts that many of
the District’s current students with high rates of truancy will never finish school and, as a
result, most likely will struggle to become responsible, productive citizens. The Council’s
and the Administration’s commitment to implementing the Education Reform Plan will
only be hollow rhetoric if the District can’t keep its students in school, engaged and
growing academically and intellectually and completing the full course of study required
for graduation.

To address the increasing truancy rates, in January 2011 Council Chair Kwame Brown
created the Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy and assigned At Large
Councilmember Sekou Biddle to chair the Committee. The Committee was charged with
conducting a comprehensive study and holding hearings to “determine the current state of
safety in the District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter schools, including
examination of issues pertaining to school violence, truancy interventions and other
supports, communication with law enforcement, bullying, gang prevention, and safe
routes to and from school.” 1 The Committee was also charged with preparing a report
that provides recommendations for increasing safety in public schools and decreasing
truancy.

Since its establishment, the Committee has held two hearings, talked more informally
with parents, teachers, students, community-based organizations and government
administrators and agency heads. The Committee examined best practices through which
other jurisdictions with similar problems have been able to reduce truancy and increase
graduation rates. A review of laws, regulations, standards and definitions currently
governing truancy in the District has been begun as well.

Clearly, the Committee will continue its work over the year of its designated charge, but
given the enormity of the District’s truancy problem, it has decided to prepare an interim
report, presenting its findings and recommendations to date.

The Committee has found the following conditions that exist in the District that impact
school attendance and completion:

Truancy at an acute level: During the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year, 3700
DCPS students were truant, with 13 percent of secondary school students labeled as
“chronic truants” with 15 or more unexcused absences. 2 A student who is not in school
for 60 percent of the school day without a valid excuse is counted truant. 3

Truancy a behavior that leads to dropping out of school: Student with high levels of

1
Resolution 19-9, the Council of the District of Columbia, January 18, 2011
2
Lisa Gartner, Nearly 4,000 truant from District schools last semester, The Washington
Examiner (February 3, 2011).
3
Testimony of Chancellor Kaya Henderson, DCPS, March 16, 2011.
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truancies frequently drop out of school, a personal tragedy, but also a financial burden
transferred to the taxpayer. 4 On average, a high school dropout will cost taxpayers in his
lifetime $292,000 in lower tax revenues, public assistance benefits, and imposed
incarceration costs relative to a high school graduate. 5

Warnings of a behavioral pattern leading to chronic truancy seen early: Truancy in

the District begins in the early grades, becomes a pattern in the middle school years and
explains, in part, a pattern in which 48.8 percent of ninth graders fail to graduate within
four years.

Truant students impact attendance behaviors of other students: Truant students,

while cheating themselves of a responsible, productive future, frequently endanger other
students who are attempting to travel back and forth to school safely. Truant students are
often connected to neighborhood crime.

Unsafe schools contribute to truancy: Internal school safety issues can and do, in
identified situations, cause truancy when students are not able to travel safely back and
forth to school or are unable to safely move between classes within the school.
Suspension practices must be monitored closely to ensure that students are not pushed out
of school.

Domestic and dating violence and teenage pregnancies part of the picture of school
safety and truancy: Witnesses testified that as much as 43 percent of teen dating
violence incidents were reported to have taken place on a school campus and teen victims
of dating violence report higher rates of truancy, more negative contact with their
teachers and increased conflict with other students.

Bullying and harassment because of sexual orientation or gender identity contribute

to truancy: Representatives of organizations working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Questioning (“LGBTQ”) youth testified that their clients were
“disproportionately affected by school safety issues like bullying, harassment and
violence.”

Limited family resources, lack of money for transportation and appropriate

clothing contribute to truancy: Practitioners and teachers stated that factors ranging
from the availability of clean clothing, appropriate winter clothing and Metro fare,
especially during the last two weeks of the month prevent school attendance.

Student and family behavioral health problems contribute to truancy: Witnesses

4
Michael Birnbaum, D.C. graduation rates down, Washington Post (June 9, 2009).
5
Sum, A., Khatiwada, I., & McLaughlin, J. (2009). The consequences of dropping out
of high school: Joblessness and jailing for high school dropouts and the cost for
taxpayers. Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University.
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testified that it was critical to strengthening D.C, Department of Mental Health “so that
accessible, high quality evidenced-based mental health programs are provided to
families.”

Truancy impacts the safety of neighborhoods and public spaces: Truant students
frequently are linked to an increase in crime during school hours, including assaults and
larceny on Metrorail trains and at Metrorail stations. In 2010, Metro Transit Police made
a total of 2012 arrests, and of that number, 25 percent were youths, many committing
these crimes between the hours of 8am and 4pm. 6

Truancy and drop-outs costs taxpayers: On average, a high school dropout will cost
taxpayers in his lifetime $292,000 in lower tax revenues, public assistance benefits, and
imposed incarceration costs relative to a high school graduate.

On the positive side, actions have been taken by the Administration and agency heads
that have promise:

Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s Truancy Task Force intensifies efforts:

Comprised of education, human services, and criminal justice/law enforcement agencies,
the Task Force was formed to develop a truancy reduction strategy and to emphasis the
importance of a common understanding among all citizens of the District about the
impact of truancy so that root causes may be addressed. The citywide multi-agency
approach of the Task Force helped reduce truancy by 41 percent in 2004.

Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (“OSSE“) leads way on

establishing clear definitions and regulations on Compulsory Education and School
Attendance. These regulations bind all public schools in the District and require each
local education agency (“LEA“) to develop procedures for monitoring, reporting,
addressing and evaluating attendance and absences within the school.

Laws pending authorization and pending legislation address identified problems:

 Families Together Amendment Act of 2010. Witnesses urged full

implementation of the differential response system permitted by the Families
Together Amendment Act. Community-based organizations and agency heads
continue to believe that the bill provides solutions and that it needs to be funded.

 School Transit Subsidy Amendment Act of 2011. Teachers, parents, and

students concur that for some families, the cost of transportation is a major barrier
in determining whether or not students are able to attend school. School
administration notes a pattern indicating that school attendance is substantially

6
Testimony of Chief Michael Taborn, Metro Transit Police, March 16, 2011.
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 weaker during the last two weeks of the month, when household money runs out.
This bill would ensure that lack of Metro fare does not deprive District students of
an education.

 South Capitol Street Tragedy Memorial Act of 2011. Witnesses testified that a
primary cause of truancy is undiagnosed and unaddressed behavioral health and
special education needs. An undiagnosed child is susceptible to poor school
performance, behavioral problems, and eventually truancy, school suspension and
drop out. This bill would address the problem of early diagnosis and prevent
more costly and impacting issues that inevitably arise without such early mental
health intervention.

 District of Columbia-Wide Truancy Zone Establishment Act of 2011. Witnesses

repeatedly testified of seeing truants in the District during the school day, including
students patronizing private businesses and loitering on store grounds. The Committee
recommends the introduction of legislation for the establishment of voluntary “truancy
free zones”, whereby businesses would post signage to discourage truants from entering a
place of business. The legislation also would establish standards for the distribution of
information packets to businesses informing how to be in compliance with the existing
truancy loitering laws, and establishment of a truancy hotline whereby the public,
including store owners can report suspected truant behavior.

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II. Public Hearings

To date, the Committee has held two public hearings, 7 using the opportunity to identify
areas of concern, successful policies currently in place in the District, as well as gather
recommendations on how to combat truancy and make schools safer.

February 26 and March 16 hearings

On February 26, the Special Committee on School Safety and Truancy held public
hearings on the issue of School Safety and Truancy and heard the testimony individuals
and groups representing education, youth services and law enforcement, as well as
members of the general public, including students, teachers and parents. The March 16
hearing included the testimony of agency heads as well as others. Chairperson Biddle
stated that the hearings’ purpose was to find potential solutions to the District’s truancy
problem from the community and relevant stakeholders.

The testimony of all the witnesses is attached as appendix B. The issues, concerns and
recommendations of the witnesses are summarized as follows:

Student testimony

 A third grade student testified that kids get distracted and interfere with other
students, inciting a fight. She asked that the school and the Council put programs in
place that would help kids learn how to get along with each other. She suggested
showing a movie at school that could educate kids about the dangers of fighting and
she said finding a solution to this behavior is one way of improving school safety.

 A high school student testified that gang violence, girl fights, the lack of air
conditioning and a dilapidated building make it difficult for students at his school to
learn. He said that the deplorable conditions of the school building creates an
atmosphere that lets students know they are not a priority, and makes it hard for them
to seriously consider their education a priority. He also thought teachers should come
from the same demographic background as the students.

 A Luke C. Moore student testified that he was a student that was not regularly
attending class and that an attendance officer aggressively encouraged him to get
back on track. The student said that there is a job shortage for young people. He also
said that schools and communities should create activities for students if they want

February 26, 2011 Public Oversight Hearing on “School Safety and Truancy”
March 16, 2011 Public Oversight Hearing (Continuation) on “School Safety
and Truancy”
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 them to participate more in school. He also said that schools need teachers that
connect with students to make those students want to go to school. Peers have a huge
impact on this as well.

Parent and community testimony and recommendations

 Students are promoted to the next grade even though they have not achieved
proficiency in their current grade. The next grade is even harder for the failing
student and truancy becomes an attractive option.

 Failing students are not offered remedial instruction if they have not yet mastered
basic skills in one or more subjects.

 Schools build barriers or prevent struggling students from attending. Students

need to be taught beginning at the performance level they have achieved. Schools
should not bar tardy children entrance to school and cause them to miss class.
Lack of school uniforms should not be a reason to exclude students from school.

 Schools can eliminate chronic truancy with early prevention and intervention
techniques.

 Truancy can be rectified, but only if elected officials, the Central Office of DCPS,
DCPS administrators, nonprofit human service providers, clergy, and community
members begin to work together.

 Ward 1 schools with the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative

have a program that could be a model.

 Causes of truancy are:

o deplorable conditions
o overcrowded classrooms
o violence at school, lack of resources, and
o not enough teachers
o practices such as dropping children from school rolls after 25 days
absence without knowing why the child is not coming to school.
o Suspension of students from school for minor uniform infractions

 Truancy Officers should be replaced with School Resource Officers (MPD).

 An efficient attendance tracking system should be established to immediately

notify parents of absences.

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  Enforce “curfews” in which students can’t be “on the streets” during school
hours.

 Place chronic truants in a boarding school.

 Increase the number of MPD truancy officers. There is now only one truancy
officer per police district.

 Establish a taskforce headed by DME that would include the heads of the MPD,
DCPS, the District of Columbia Hospital Association, the Department of Human
Services, the public school board, and the charter board to streamline reporting of
truants, including the immediate dispatch of MPD officers who has the ability to
access school information systems.

 Establish penalties for parents when they fail to get their child to school -- reduce
public assistance benefits or remove student from the home.

 Establish a cadre of volunteers, mostly senior citizens, that could make home
visits on the very first day that a student is absent from school without parental
consent. Require parents to sign consent forms on the first day of school that
would allow someone to come to their place of employment in order to notify
them of their child’s absence from school that day.

 Determine why an individual student is truant. For example, gay and lesbian
students may miss class because they are being bullied.

 Organize against a culture of rampant and open drug use. In some neighborhoods
children are exposed to drug paraphernalia when they go into a store to get food
after school, and in such stores, they can purchase rolling papers and walk right
out onto the street and use drugs.

 Increase extracurricular activities to make students excited about school.

Community organization testimony

 Ronald Moten and Keith Johnson, Peaceoholics, Inc., attributed high rates of
truancy and drop out to students’ disenfranchisement from neighborhood schools and
neighborhood conflicts between feuding crews. They recommended mediation with
both sides and the use of conflict resolution. Molten said that gay, lesbian, and
bisexual youth population is increasingly involved in violent incidents and stressed
the importance of victims issues being addressed no matter what the victims’
characteristics. Johnson said that some students are not getting adequate food at
home and that school may be the only place a child is fed. He also stated that

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 violence in schools plays a big part in truancy. Johnson spoke against punishing the
parents of students and said these families need access to social workers to help
improve their home situation.

 Richard Flintrop, Director of Policy and Planning at the Healthy

Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative Council (“HFTC”) testified on
behalf of HFTC and the six collaboratives. He stated that habitual truancy leads to
higher dropout rates. He said that schools in some neighborhoods have graduation
rates that are less than 50 percent, and that 36 percent of the District’s adults are
functionally illiterate. This results in citizens unprepared to enter the workforce and
become productive, self-sufficient members of the community. He cited the strong
correlation between school attendance and youth crime and violence. He said that the
collaboratives have been a solution, working with families plagued by chronic
truancy, and that families facing educational neglect are already referred to them
under their contracts with Child and Family Services Agency (“CFSA“). The
collaboratives have tested two models of intervention, one involving the informal
participation of a judge from the Family Court and one with similar services but
without court involvement. Mr. Flintrop testified that in his experience, family-
centered services can significantly reduce truancy and improve school performance.
Flintrop stated that bringing families into the CFSA system should be a last resort due
to the long term negative consequences of having a parent’s name placed on the Child
Protection Registry.

Flintrop supported the Families Together Amendment Act passed under the
leadership of Councilmember Wells, which mandated a differential response system
be implemented by CFSA, asking for a lower threshold for educational neglect in
tandem with the differential response system. He said that differential response has
shown to reduce the need for traditional CFSA investigations, increase access to
services for families, and significantly increase child safety and lower the rate of
subsequent allegations of abuse and neglect. Flintrop states that funding for
community-based services for truancy should be the responsibility of the school
system and not CFSA.

 Daniel del Pielago, an education organizer with Empower DC, River Terrace ES,
said he the city should work to preserve neighborhood schools. Using the example of
the proposed closing of River Terrace ES, he said there safety issues that surround
school closures – greater distances to travel on rough roads would increase the
likelihood that the student will become truant. Further, sending children from one
neighborhood to school in another can exacerbate the rivalries that exist between
some neighborhoods in the District.

 Sinkyu Culver, a representative of River Terrace Parent Teacher Association,

expressed concern about school safety and truancy when routes to and from school
are increased. He discussed the issue of bussing students, but said that this would

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 increase traffic congestion and increase the amount of time that students are not
sufficiently supervised.

Culver said that the Council should investigate emotional intelligence and how this
field can be used to teach students how to communicate effectively. This may reduce
the instances of fighting. Further, he said there is a need to coordinate the efforts of
the various organizations groups offering ideas of how to solve our educational
problems.

 Susan Inman, staff attorney for Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc.,
testified on the importance of properly handling student discipline issues. Inman said
that schools often rely on out-of-school suspension and expulsion to remove students
from the academic setting. Rather than correcting student behavior, this can
exacerbate the problem, in addition to punishing students who may be suffering from
disabilities that are often undiagnosed and untreated.

Inman said D.C. municipal regulations are designed to protect students from DCPS
actions that would remove students from school without considering alternatives and
affording students due process. She stated that there is currently no mechanism to
hold schools accountable for ignoring or misapplying the regulations, so it is not
uncommon for her organization to become involved when schools violate the
regulations. Ms. Inman went on to explain that in charter schools the situation is
often worse, as these schools develop their own policies pertaining to school
discipline that are often vague and unfair.

Inman suggests that the Council look to New York City as a model, as New York has
a process by which parents can report on disciplinary practices of the school.
Additionally, in 2010 the New York City Council passed the Student Safety Act
which required the NYC Department of Education and NY Police Department to
accurately report all school-based disciplinary actions and arrests disaggregated by
race, gender, grade level, age, and whether the student receives special education or
English as a Second Language services.

Inman also testified that the Council should pass legislation to create an interagency
initiative charged with providing a behavioral support structure across the D.C. public
school system. She suggested that this program could incorporate trained behavioral
support specialists in each school. Ms. Inman said that the specialists would build
relationships with students by implementing behavioral supports and developing
alternative disciplinary responses. Ms. Inman stated that a similar interagency
support structure exists in Massachusetts.

Inman recommended that the Council form a volunteer task force comprised of
representative members of each community group affected by the overuse of school
suspensions and expulsions. This task force could be comprised by District leaders,

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 students, teachers, administrators, parents, and advocates.

 Cathy Reilly, Director of Senior High Alliance of Principals, Parents, and

Educators noted the loss of two young students, one gunned down on her front
porch, and another found in a dumpster, and said that the District is not keeping our
neighborhoods safe for children.

Reilly said schools are trying to comply with truancy policies, but are overwhelmed
with the volume of instances and suffer from a limited number of resources. She
voiced concern at the threat of reducing school budgets even more, and the impact
that would have on their ability to accomplish what needs to be done. Reilly said that
searches and metal detectors alienate students by treating them as if they were a risk
themselves.

 Trayon White, the Executive Director of Helping Inner City Kids Succeed Inc,,
said that the schools are in a state of emergency and that the number one reason kids
are truant or dropping out is because of safety concerns. Many of the experienced
teachers were recently fired, with less experienced and less qualified teachers
replacing them. Further, the schools lack adequate resources to help kids go on to
college.

 Judith Sandalow, Executive Director of the Children’s Law Center said that
truancy is a symptom of a bigger problem and that poverty, unmet special education
needs, and substance abuse problems and other problems at home, and difficulty in
school, if unaddressed, can lead to truancy. She stressed the need to address these
bigger problems in the family. It is critical to intervene early in cases of truancy and
to locate funds for the differential response system created by the Families Together
Amendment Act of 2010.

Sandalow emphasized the need for an improved mental health services system, and
that currently the Department of Mental Health (DMH) under serves families. DMH
has a shortage of providers, resulting in the failure of many children obtaining
important treatment. This shortage can impair the child’s health and can lead to
school absences. She suggested that families should have access to additional
services, including functional family therapy intervention, parent-child interaction
therapy, multi-systemic therapy, and parenting classes. She also stated that the
District should offer school-based mental health services, as this would be the easiest
way to reach students in need of such services.

Sandalow said that the Families Together Amendment Act has the power to greatly
reduce truancy because it allows a differential response mechanism to be used where
there is no immediate physical danger to the child and would permit CFSA to respond
more effectively to thousands of child protection hotline calls each year by providing
services to families at low or moderate risk rather than investigating them. She stated

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 that the cost of the differential response system would be $775,000 over a 4-year
period, and that the system would save money in the District overall in the areas of
foster care and judicial resources.

Sandalow also testified that school reform is needed, and that some reform has
already begun. She mentioned the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s
(“OSSE“) regulations on Compulsory Education and School Attendance. These
regulations bind all public schools in the District and require each local education
agency (“LEA“) to develop procedures for monitoring, reporting, addressing and
evaluating attendance and absences within the school. The regulations also
implement a procedure that requires personal contact with a parent or guardian of a
student each time a student has the equivalent of one day of unexcused absence.

Sandalow concluded with a suggestion that the Council consider strengthening DMH
so that accessible, high quality evidenced-based mental health programs are provided
to families. She also suggested the full implementation of the differential response
system permitted by the Families Together Amendment Act and that OSSE ensures
District schools have attendance policies, and not “push-out” policies such as
suspension or punishment for truancy. Ms. Sandalow finally suggested that District
schools implement a behavior intervention model proven to reduce classroom
discipline problems.

 Kim Harrison, Executive Director of Working in the Spirit of Excellence, Inc.

testified to the need for community involvement to resolve the issue of truancy. She
said that there are many reasons for truancy issues that our schools are facing, and it
is going to require working with the community to solve these problems. Harrison
said a service plan, such as a wraparound service model, is needed. She said that
teachers are interested in working out in the community more, including home visits.
Harrison said that there has been a rise in teen pregnancy, and that when she performs
home visits, it is not uncommon to find a teen mother that is having difficulty
managing motherhood and her role as a student.

 Neil Irvin, Executive Director of Men Can Stop Rape (“MCSR“), testified about
his work with young men in providing programs that address violence prevention and
healthy alternatives to masculinity. Mr. Irvin spoke about MCSR’s mission to
mobilize men to use their strength for creating cultures free from violence, especially
violence against women. He stated that according to the White House, 7000 students
drop out of school each day. Mr. Irvin stated that participants in his organization’s
“Men of Strength” program experience significant changes in their knowledge,
beliefs, intentions and behaviors and as a result improved attendance and academic
performance while reducing overall suspensions, expulsions and critical incidents.

 Andrew Barnett, Executive Director of Sexual Minority Youth Assistance

League (“SMYAL“) testified for the need of more robust anti-harassment policies in

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 all DC schools. Barnett stated that SMYAL is the only organization in the DC area
solely dedicated to supporting the community’s LGBTQ youth. He said that he
applauds the Committee’s efforts and attention to include the LGBTQ youth in their
plans to combat truancy and school safety. Mr. Barnett also said that research
supports that LGBTQ youth are disproportionately affected by school safety issues
like bullying, harassment and violence.

Barnett said there is a need to promote a positive classroom environment through

diversity training for faculty and staff. He said that District students are currently
protected from harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation through
the DC Human Rights Code as well as anti-harassment and anti-sexual harassment
policies under the DCPS School Discipline Policy. He urged the Committee to
consider instituting stricter anti-bullying policies, such as the ones proposed in the
Harassment and Intimidation Prevention Act of 2010.

Barnett said that stronger anti-bullying policies would include provisions that
enumerate protected classes of students, provide procedural outlines for reporting and
investigating incidents of harassment, allow for anonymous reporting, require
publication of the policies, prohibit retaliation and false accusations, and provide a
range of consequences for confirmed students. Barnett urged the committee to ensure
support of LGBTQ programs.

During the question and answer period, Barnett noted that SMYL has a Gay-Straight
Alliance on Capitol Hill available to all students in the District. He stated that Gay-
Straight Alliances are student-led organizations, and that students must have an
environment where they feel safe in order to form such an organization.

Councilmember Alexander discussed the issue of LGBTQ youth engaging in

prostitution as a survival mechanism, especially in teens who have run away from
home or have dropped out of school. Mr. Barnett said that young people who engage
in sex for survival lack job readiness due to lack of education, which is why
addressing school safety and truancy in relation to the LGBTQ community is so
important.

 Brian Watson, Director of Programs at Transgender Health Empowerment

(“T.H.E.”) testified regarding the need for protection of gender non-conforming
youth in District schools. Mr. Watson’s program serves adults who identify as gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (“GLBT“) living with HIV/AIDS as well as
LGBTQ youth. Mr. Watson testified that T.H.E. has identified a recurring issue
among LGBTQ youth, which is dropping out attributed to verbal or physical
harassment due to one’s sexual orientation or gender expression. Mr. Watson stated
that this harassment reportedly comes from both students as well as faculty.

Watson said that it is hard to see the impact of the anti-bullying legislation because

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 data collection is not always accurate.

Watson noted that LGBTQ youth are disproportionately affected by homelessness,

substance abuse, and lack of employment opportunities caused by lack of education.
He stated that even at the elementary and middle school levels, students are
victimized by homophobic acts even before they have any awareness of their own
sexual orientation. He said that schools can therefore identify youth who are likely
targets of homophobia and thus foster a climate safe for all youth.

Watson testified that school faculty should also be aware of LGBTQ students and
recognize that they are at a greater risk of missing or dropping out of school. He
stated that school faculty could be better trained in LGBTQ issues and accommodate
student-led Gay-Straight Alliances or similar student clubs on campus. Mr. Watson
stated that most of all, all individuals can assist LGBTQ students by demonstrating
they are an ally and will not tolerate acts of cruelty, bullying or harassment.

During the question and answer period, Councilmember Alexander asked Watson
about best practices regarding LGBTQ related issues and how all schools can
implement such practices. Watson answered that acknowledging LGBTQ youth
through student clubs is a good first step to accommodating LGBTQ needs in the
schools. He said that schools like Luke C. Moore Academy have an LGBT group led
by a faculty advisor available for students

Chairperson Biddle asked Watson to comment on his observations of LGBTQ-related

bullying at the elementary school level. Watson answered that at this time, not much
is known about gender orientation issues at elementary school level in the District.
He mentioned that LGBTQ youth often start to identify or question their orientation
at the elementary school level, however.

The Chairperson stated that often times, young children become bullies by using
language that they may have heard in the home or in the community, and that these
children do not know the meaning or inappropriateness of the words they are using.
Chairperson Biddle also said that for this reason, policies must be clear in defining
bullying and the consequences of bullying words and behavior. The Chairperson also
said that schools should set curriculum that addresses the unacceptability of such
actions. Chairperson Biddle stated that such standards are essential not only for the
health and wellbeing of the students, but also so that students are prepared for a
diverse and progressive community.

 Candace Gingrich-Jones, Associate Director for Youth and Campus Outreach at

the Human Rights Campaign testified regarding the need for a safe and welcoming
learning environment for all students, including GLBT youth. Gingrich-Jones said
that the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (“GLSEN“) conducts a National
School Climate Survey every two years to examine the experiences of GLBT students

14
 in school. She testified that the study reflects that a student will often skip classes or
entire days just to avoid a hostile school environment. She said that the study shows
that students who are harassed have lower grade point averages and are more likely to
forgo post-secondary education.

Gingrich-Jones said that according to the GLSEN survey, nearly 85 percent of the
students say they were harassed at school. She said that the harassment and assault is
magnified by school staff who rarely intervene on behalf of GLBT students. She said
that two-thirds of students assaulted did not report the incident because they believed
no action would be taken and one-third of the students who did report incidents said
that school staff did nothing in response.

Gingrich-Jones stated that while the District currently has a strong anti-bullying and
harassment law, more can be done to protect all students. She said that inclusion of a
GLBT curriculum has shown to improve all students’ health, safety and performance.
She also stated that the presence of openly GLBT faculty sends a strong message of
inclusion. Ms. Gingrich-Jones said having a Gay-Straight Alliance in schools helps
to acknowledge GLBT students and their needs.

 Colleen Gallopin, Director of Training and Technical Assistance for Break the
Cycle testified regarding domestic and dating violence among students and its impact
on school safety and truancy. She said that Break the Cycle provides prevention
education, free legal services, advocacy and support to young people between the
ages of 12 and 24 who are experiencing dating violence. She also stated that Break
the Cycle provides trainings for community-based organizations and school
personnel.

Gallopin said that one recent survey found that 32 percent of teens reported
experiencing physical or psychological abuse and that the number of high school
students who experience dating violence in the District is one of the highest in the
country. She said that the District also ranks among the highest in the country in
percentage of high school students who experience forcible rape. She said that
around 43 percent of teen dating violence incidents were reported to have taken place
on campus.

Gallopin said that teen victims of dating violence report higher rates of truancy, more
negative contact with their teachers and increased conflict with other students. She
said that victims are also more likely to bring a weapon to school.

Gallopin stated that teen victims are also impacted by truancy, as these victims often
are unable to attend school out of fear or to seek medical treatment. She also said that
teens may wish to wait to return to school until visible signs of injury fade to avoid
questions about the injury or embarrassment. Gallopin testified that teens in abusive
relationships may avoid school for safety reasons, as these students may be in a

15
 situation where they are forced to see their abusive dating partner every day.

During the question and answer period, Chairperson Biddle asked Ms. Gallopin if
Break the Cycle has worked with charter schools as well as public schools. Ms.
Gallopin stated that her organization has worked individually with charter schools,
but not with the PCSB. Chairperson Biddle noted that charter school students often
do not receive the same sort of programs as DCPS students and suggested the
involvement of the Deputy Mayor for Education to ensure that best practices
throughout the District and DCPS are reaching the charter schools as well.

 Ashley Johnson, founder and Executive Director of The Literacy Lab testified for
the purpose of addressing truancy among homeless students. Johnson said that
homeless students have one of the highest truancy rates of any group of students. She
said that according to a 2001 study, 45 percent of homeless students do not attend
school regularly, and 12 percent of homeless students are not enrolled in school at all.

Johnson said that her organization provides reading instruction to homeless students
residing at the DC General Family Emergency Shelter, and that student working with
her program for 45 hours make an average one and a half grade levels of growth in
their reading. The Literacy Lab also doubles the amount of reading instruction a
student receives and also provides each student with another adult to follow up with
them about their schoolwork, attendance and other school activities.

Johnson stated The Literacy Lab was recently notified their funding has run out and
the only way to save the program is with $8,500 of funding per month. Ms. Johnson
asked the Council for help in locating funds for the program.

During the question and answer period, Chairperson Biddle acknowledged that
students often stop attending school because they struggle due to not receiving help at
home. He also said that the services of The Literacy Lab are important for families
struggling with problems of homelessness or poverty, who, because of larger family
problems may not be able to prioritize schoolwork.

 Kim Harrison, Ward 8 resident and member of Anacostia High School’s school
restructuring team testified regarding the need to address student “lock out”,
whereby students who do not arrive on time to school are blocked from entering he
school building. She said that tardy students are also facing a variety of issues that
attribute to their truancy, like transportation, accessibility to clean clothes or even a
fear of walking through a particular neighborhood during a certain time of day. She
said that students who are barred from entering the school building due to tardiness
are being deprived of an education and that this problem should be addressed.

 Faith Wheeler, President of Safe Takoma testified regarding school violence and
its impact on truancy. She said that regardless of the quality of teachers in the

16
 classroom, schools cannot be successful when fights break out in the classroom or
when truancy rates are high. She said that DCPS has three measures for dealing with
students who fight: suspension, expulsion or arrest. Ms. Wheeler said that the student
is then out of the classroom, and for that child, learning is disrupted. She questioned
if these measures are actually effective or if they even teach a lesson to the disruptive
students.

Wheeler stated that Safe Takoma recently completed its Community Conference,
which addressed fights and arguments among high school students on school grounds.
She said that the Community Conference brings together two or more young people
who are involved in a conflict, along with their parents and a school representative.
She said that the purpose of the Community Conference is to understand the whole
situation, to hear how everyone has been affected by what happened, and to create a
written contract that will address the damage and hold a student accountable for
preventing future harm.

During the question and answer period, Chairperson Biddle asked Ms. Wheeler how
the Takoma Park program could be replicated through the city. Ms. Wheeler said that
training facilitators to start other programs throughout the city would be key, but that
would be a slow process.

 German Vigil, Community Capacity Building Director at Columbia

Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative testified regarding the importance of
helping families stay connected and strong through family support services. The
Collaborative provides assistance to families in the Columbia Heights and Shaw
neighborhoods in Wards 1 and 2 as well as Spanish-speaking families within the
District. Vigil said that chronic truancy and related issues are principal predictors of
potential gang or crew involvement.

Vigil stated that families facing educational neglect allegations are referred to his
organization under contract with CFSA. He offered an example of a model of
intervention tested by his organization. He said that one model, referred to as the
Byer model involved the informal participation of a judge from the Family Court who
is paired with an individual school and then identifies a cohort of youth who are not
attending school regularly, and recruits their parents to participate in the program as
an alternative to truancy court. Mr. Vigil indicated that the program that sponsored
the Byer model lost funding in 2008 and is no longer implemented in the schools.

Mr. Vigil stated that truancy among young children is often a reflection of poor
parenting skills or the stressors that low income single parent households face. He
said that family centered services like collaborative significantly reduce truancy and
improve school performance. Mr. Vigil said that the defunct Byer model came out of
the belief that truancy arises out of conditions in the family and that positive
reinforcement and empowerment yields more effective results than punishment.

17
 Vigil testified that the Byer model had four elements which were crucial to the
intervention’s success, including full support and partnership of schools, courts,
MPD, parents and community-based partners; family group conferences allowing the
youth and family to identify barriers that relate to school attendance and academic
achievement; parent teacher meetings; and meetings with judges.

Mr. Vigil stated that his organization supports the educational neglect legislation
passed last year, but believes that it needs to be implemented in tandem with the
differential response process. He expressed that involvement of the court system
should be a last resort.

During the question and answer period, Chairperson Biddle acknowledged the
importance of collaboratives and locating funding to implement the differential
response system included in the educational neglect bill

School employees and administrators

 Terry Goings, Parent/Outreach Coordinator at Calvin Coolidge Senior High

School, said that parents need to be held accountable for their child and that the
community needs to start examining the conditions in the home. He stated that
parents should come to the school to check on the students a couple of times per
week. He recently sent out 100 voicemails notifying parents that their children were
not in school, and he did not receive a single call back from a parent. He said there
should be mandatory parenting classes for parents of truant students. He
recommended that loitering laws be reevaluated because youths who are no longer
students at Coolidge are creating a great safety concern for the current students
attending school. Mr. Goings suggested that. He also testified that he is supportive
of suspending students who are disruptive to the school’s learning environment.

Goings also said that many of the children now in high school were born during the
District’s crack epidemic and that many of their parents have been incarcerated,
addicted or struggling as a single parent, and now these students need to be prepared
to enter society.

 Steven Liggon, Attendance Counselor and Intervention Specialist at Luke C.

Moore Academy, outlined the current protocol that the schools and attendance
counselor should be following. On the first day a student is absent, a phone call
should be made to the parent; at three days, a letter should go to the household from
the teacher; at ten days the child should fail the class; and at 15 days a report should
be made to CFSA. Mr. Liggon stated that if a child misses 25 consecutive days, they
can be removed from the roster.

Mr. Liggon suggested that it is important to hold teachers, attendance counselors,

18
 public schools, and city government accountable in this process.

 Tiffany Worthy, ninth grade English teacher at Spingarn Senior High, said that
her best efforts to lead a successful classroom are continually undermined by the high
rate of truancy and absenteeism, which cripples student academic achievement.
Worthy publicly tracks individual student attendance on a bulletin board in her
classroom. She cited statistics that over the past three weeks, only six of 62 students
have attended class every day. Worthy also stated the students have accumulated a
combined total of 259 absences over that same period and that there is no doubt that
truancy has hindered her students’ academic achievement.

 Sarah Lehar teaches Principles of U.S. Government and D.C. History at

Anacostia Senior High School. She said that while she had amazing students in her
classroom, there are far too many empty desks in her classroom, and therefore too
many empty caps and gowns, because students are not making it to class. She does
not believe that the procedure for truancy is implemented properly. She further
recommended that the school needs to be proactive not reactive, and problem-solving
rather than punitive. She said that school security personnel have been, in her
experience, been ineffective and inattentive and that school must be made more
effective security. She also would like to see principals having a hand in selecting
who is hired to school security.

Lehar said that her students have safety concerns and do not feel safe at school, or on
field trips that utilized public transportation because some students feel that they will
be attacked at the Metro. She stated that students need to feel safe in order for them
to be expected to attend school. This will require addressing the root issues, and it
must be a community effort. Lehar said that frequently students are absent because
they are home taking care of their own children.

 David Tanzey, a teacher at Dunbar Senior High School, testified on his first hand
experience over the last two years there. With another teacher, he runs the Gentlemen
of Dunbar, a program that is trying to help redefine masculinity for the male youths.
Mr. Tanzey stated that life lessons only get communicated through relationships.
Young people who lack other mentors seek acceptance from their crew. He stated
that he supports schools teaching a life skills curriculum. He also recommended
instituting a program where upperclassmen mentor underclassmen. He feels the lack
of leadership and relationships with students needs to be rectified.

 Rahman Branch, Principal of Ballou High School, said that his school has seen
much improvement and success lately. Branch stated that the schools and principals
need to have financial resources available to provide the students with the teachers
and learning environment that is needed. The help needs to come from the DC
government and the Council.

19
 Brian Williams, Dean of Students at Ballou High School, said that he has
witnessed a high level of violence in his tenure, but has also seen engaged learners
who are performing beyond what society is expecting of them. Mr. Williams said he
is trying to increase the numbers of minority students who are entering the fields of
science, health, and technology. Williams suggested that students follow the example
of their leaders, so schools need to have dynamic teachers.

.
Executive Comment

 Michael Taborn, Chief of Police for Metro Transit Police Department

(“MTPD“) testified regarding criminal activity experienced over the last several
years within the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Chief Taborn
stated that out of the 2012 arrests made by the Metro Transit police in 2010, 507 were
youth arrests. During that year, there were 136 aggravated assaults, 90 of the assaults
on bus operators were carried out by youths.

Chief Taborn also stated that youth crimes typically consist of larceny and robbery of
electronic devices. He testified that 20,000 students in the District travel to school
daily on Metro, and a majority of students are great transit patrons. He stated that
recent trends however, have shown that some students have become increasingly
aggressive and violent while using the transit system.

Chief Taborn said that due to decreasing enrollment over the last five years, the
District has closed some of its public schools, requiring more students to travel
outside of their neighborhoods to attend school. Also, students travel out of their
neighborhoods to attend parochial, private, and charter schools. Chief Taborn
testified that reconfiguration of the school system has led to students crossing transit
lines when traveling to school, creating increased opportunities for rival schools and
neighborhood crews to mix. The Chief stated that these increased opportunities often
lead to increased youth disorder and criminal behavior.

Chief Taborn testified regarding the Metrorail stations that have been affected by
youth disorder. He stated that the transfer points Metro Center, Gallery Place, and
L’Enfant Plaza are a particular challenge for MTPD because these stations bring so
many people together at once. He also stated that the stations that experience a large
number of youth influx are Brookland, Fort Totten, Van Ness, Minnesota Avenue,
Deanwood, Stadium Armory, Anacostia, and Shaw.

Chief Taborn testified that each day at 1pm, MTPD participates in a conference call
with MPD to share information concerning disputes or issues between local
neighborhood groups and crews. He stated that the conference call also addresses the
morning commute and any incidents that may trigger retaliation by groups in the
afternoon.

20
Chief Taborn testified that MTPD has worked with agencies, WKYS radio station
and schools across the District to implement “Project Respect”, a program that
discourages students from being loud, boisterous and using profanity on trains and
buses. Also, he stated that MTPD has increased the number of plain clothes officers
that ride Metrobus during school release hours. He said that MTPD has suggested
staggered school departure times to DCPS to reduce the concentration of students
using Metro at a particular time.

Chief Taborn also stated that MTPD has a program called “Safe Passages”, which
allows special bus trips to and from school for students experiencing problems due to
neighborhood disputes. He said that three buses under this program were deployed to
Anacostia High School. He also stated that MTPD uses a system called
METROSTAT, which is a new initiative to combat criminal activity within the Metro
system. The Chief stated that this process involves using real time data and statistical
information to identify crime trends.

Chief Taborn testified that truancy is especially a burden on MTPD, since so many
youth congregate at certain Metro stations for long periods of time. He stated that
since the District does not have an anti-loitering law, MTPD can only take action
when the group impedes the egress or ingress of the stations or the ability for others
to use the sidewalks.

Chief Taborn explained what happens to students who are taken into custody by
MTPD for truancy, stating that a truant student in custody is taken to the Truancy
Hall at Mount Olivet for processing. If the student will not furnish the phone number
of his or her parents or guardian or if the number is not in the system, the student is
then turned over to MPD.

Chairperson Biddle remarked that problems with transit safety is not a new
phenomenon. He stated that low income communities especially rely on Metro to
travel to and from school and most have no other options for travel. The Chairperson
shared the story of his experience observing transit patrons at the Anacostia Metro
and noted that 75 percent of the riders were school-age children. Chairperson Biddle
said since the District is not a big city by area and students are identifiable, there is no
excuse for those responsible for student safety to avoid accountability. The
Chairperson also stated that rules for every student using Metro need to be
established, as well as clear consequences for breaking rules. Chairperson Biddle
asked Chief Taborn which agency will be responsible for ensuring safety when the
students are in the Metro system.

Chief Taborn responded that the responsibility for student safety rests with DCPS,
CFSA, MPD and MTPD. He said that MTPD wants to work in partnership with the
other agencies. Chief Taborn stated that during school hours at high traffic stations

21
 like Gallery Place, he would like to see an MPD officer patrolling the station.

Chairperson Biddle stated that the issue of delegating responsibility could be resolved
by getting DCPS, MPD and MTPD together at one time to decide which agency will
handle which aspect of student safety. The Chairperson emphasized the importance
of clarity in each agency’s role for the purpose of accountability. He stated that
DCPS cannot always account for each student’s safety while in the Metro system and
also noted that MPD is responsible for the entire city’s safety. The Chairperson then
expressed that since MTPD has jurisdiction over the transit system, it is logical that
truancy issues that arise in conjunction with the Metro system should be MTPD’s
responsibility.

Chief Taborn stated that MTPD covers 1,500 square miles of jurisdiction with only
450 officers. He expressed the need for a commitment from MPD to jointly patrol the
high traffic Metro stations.

Chairperson Biddle reiterated the need for DCPS, MPD and MTPD to convene in
order to delegate who will be accountable for student safety at specified times.
Chairperson Biddle expressed that he understood the resource issue, but stated that a
much more costly resource is lost time and damage to the District’s young people.
He said that the cost of not acting on the problem of truancy is catastrophic, and that
resources to put solutions in play must be located. Chairperson Biddle emphasized
that blame needs to stop, and that everyone must be accountable to fix the problem
now.

 Josephine Baker, Executive Director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board
(“PCSB“) testified regarding the PCSB’s truancy policies, stating that students
cannot be the recipients of a quality education if they do not feel safe, are not engaged
in school, and do not attend school regularly. Baker testified that all charter schools
are held accountable for implementing the attendance and truancy standards
established by PCSB. She said that charter schools are their own LEA, and must
maintain an attendance rate at or above 85 percent and a truancy rate at or below 20
percent quarterly. Baker testified that schools that do not maintain these rates are
subject to board action. She then explained the board actions taken by PCSB in
response to charter schools that fall below the standard.

Baker said that in 2010, PCSB issued about 20 board actions for truancy and
attendance and that all of the actions have been cleared. She said PCSB has not
issued any board actions in the first quarter of the current school year because PCSB
has decided to give schools an opportunity to clear up any data reporting problems
schools may have had. She said that during the second quarter, board actions were
taken for only four schools.

22
 Baker also testified that each LEA develops and executes its own discipline policy.
She noted the importance of gauging school climate and working with MPD to
identify negative school climate trends and raise questions with school leaders.
Finally, Baker stated that PCSB encourages school administrators to continue to
implement their truancy and attendance policies in school.

During the question and answer period, Councilmember Barry asked Baker if the
Board had a baseline for disciplining truancy among the charter schools. Baker
answered that each charter school as its own LEA has their own discipline policy and
that the autonomy of the schools does not allow for PCSB to set such a standard.
Councilmember Barry stated that he disagreed with this policy, since charter schools
receive taxpayer money.

 The Honorable Zoe Bush, Presiding Judge of the DC Superior Court’s Family
Court testified regarding the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s Truancy Task
Force (“Task Force“), of which she is co-chair. She stated that she has presided over
Truancy Court for two years, and in that time, has understood that truancy is a
predictor of potential delinquent activity, social isolation, and school suspension and
expulsion.

Judge Bush stated that the causes of truancy are multi-faceted and that a
comprehensive strategy is required to ensure the District can reduce truancy and
increase school attendance. She emphasized the importance of a common
understanding among all citizens of the District about the impact of truancy so that
root causes may be addressed.

Judge Bush testified that the Task Force is comprised of education, human services,
and criminal justice/law enforcement agencies and was formed to develop a truancy
reduction strategy. She stated that at first, the task force focused on elementary
school children and eventually expanded to include all students. The citywide multi-
agency approach of the Task Force helped reduce truancy by 41 percent in 2004.

Judge Bush said that the Family Court fully supports the Special Committee on
School Safety and Truancy because all efforts to combat truancy will help the
District’s most vulnerable children and their families.

During the question and answer period, Councilmember Alexander shared a story of a
young woman who resides in a group home in Ward 7. She stated that this young
woman has not attended school the entire year, and no person or agency has been held
accountable for this. Councilmember Alexander expressed concern that such an
oversight of children in the foster system might be occurring in the District.
Councilmember Alexander said that she would like clarity regarding who will be
accountable for ensuring this young woman and other children in the foster care

23
system receive the education to which they are entitled.

Judge Bush replied that children in the foster care system are classified as Persons In
Need of Services, or PINS. She explained that a person classified as PINS has been
charged with a status offense, such as truancy, being ungovernable, or running away
from home. She also stated that by the time a truant child is seen in Truancy Court,
the child has already missed 25 days of school. Judge Bush said that after that many
absences, intervention is difficult.

Judge Bush responded that it is the court’s responsibility to ensure the student is in
the appropriate educational setting and that their attendance in school is accounted
for. She noted that CFSA is innovative in using limited resources to manage the
foster care system and that CFSA puts many supports in place to help families
reunify.

Chairperson Biddle asked Judge Bush what the District can expect to gain from the
Task Force. Judge Bush stated that the Task Force is comprised of representatives
from MPD, the Office of the Attorney General, the Defense Bar, DMH, OSSE,
DCPS, CFSA, the charter schools and the Deputy Mayor for Education. She said that
the goal of the Task Force is to bring these agencies together in these times of fiscal
constraint to ensure that the programs that are currently in place to address truancy
are effective and that the programs are evidence-based.

Judge Bush then explained the public will be well informed through a media
campaign educating about truancy, the effects of truancy and why education is
important. She noted that in any average penal system, the common denominator for
incarcerated persons is a 3rd grade reading level, which reflects the consequences to
truancy and a failing education system.

Chairperson Biddle remarked that another group that would benefit from a media
campaign on truancy would be the average citizen who observes a truant child not in
school. The Chairperson commented on his own observations in Ward 7, seeing
young people about the neighborhoods during a school day when they should be in
school. He noted the importance of giving the public a way to engage by educating
them on the consequences of truancy to the community and potentially offering a
hotline to call to report truancy activity.

Judge Bush agreed with the Chairperson that the community needs to be educated on
truancy and said that she would take the suggestion of the Chairperson back to the
Task Force. She stated that while District schools already track truancy, in her
opinion, she sees the problem as not addressing truancy early enough. Judge Bush
stated that collaboratives can help the families to address and resolve the reasons for
truancy. Judge Bush remarked that the need to incorporate the collaboratives in the
community to identify future truancy indicators at the first signs is of utmost

24
 importance. She said that once behaviors are identified, support to the family can be
provided to potentially avert truancy. The Judge said that students want to learn;
often times, students and their families are overwhelmed with life and can be trapped
in a cycle of generational poverty. She stated that the “big picture” solution to
truancy is addressing the larger familial issues through intervention and support of
families, whether through food, clothing, or mental health support services.

Councilmember Alexander asked Judge Bush to explain PINS and asked if the child
classified as PINS remains within the CFSA system. The Judge answered that PINS
can be the same population as CFSA children, but that PINS is not related to CFSA.
Judge Bush clarified that CFSA handles neglect cases, whereas PINS cases are
persons who are identified as needing support services.

Councilmember Alexander expressed great concern for the foster care system,
especially children within that system who run away from the group home. She
stated that in a group home setting it does not seem as if the child receives the same
type of supervision from CFSA as if the child was still in the familial home. Judge
Bush replied that when the child has been removed from the familial home for the
child’s safety and placed in a group home, the responsibility for placing the child in
the appropriate, safe setting falls with the judge. The Judge said that the information
regarding what is best for the child is in part relayed from CFSA social workers.
Councilmember Alexander then asked Judge Bush what would happen if a judge
found that a child placed in a group home was not at school for the entire year, as in
the case of the young woman residing in the Ward 7 group home. Judge Bush said
that in such a case, the child may need extra resources because the child may be
ungovernable due to a traumatic home life. The Judge said that there is no quick fix
for such cases and that each case must be examined on a case-by-case basis. Judge
Bush also indicated that she would personally follow up on the status of this
particular young woman.

Testimony of the State Superintendent of Education, The Chancellor of the D.C.

Public Schools and the Chief of Police:

 Hosanna Mahaley, State Superintendent of Education for the District of

Columbia testified regarding the Mayor’s interagency efforts to combat truancy.
Superintendent Mahaley stated that chronic truancy is a predictor for dropping out,
substance abuse and criminal activity. She said that the damage from truancy is felt
throughout the entire community.

Superintendent Mahaley said that last year, 12,000 public school students were truant
for 15 days or more. She stated that in November 2009, OSSE revised its attendance
and compulsory education rules to require DCPS and charter schools to develop a

25
comprehensive truancy protocol that includes procedures to track and monitor school
attendance, notify families, and trigger agency intervention.

The Superintendent said that Mayor Gray’s administration is committed to addressing

truancy across agencies. She testified that DCPS and charter schools have also
committed to making attendance a major priority by taking action the first day a
student is truant. She also said that MPD has designated a team of 14 officers to pick
up, investigate and return students to school. She also mentioned the reinstituted
Truancy Task Force and said that the Task Force is a tool for continuing interagency
coordination, creative problem solving, and outreach to the community.

During the question and answer period, Councilmember Alexander asked DCPS
Chancellor Kaya Henderson how DCPS defines truancy, and expressed a concern
that a child can come to school for the last portion of the school day and still only be
counted as tardy. Chancellor Henderson answered that a student who is not in school
for 60 percent of the school day without a valid excuse is counted truant.

Councilmember Alexander also asked for Chancellor Henderson’s thoughts on

instituting a boarding school in the District for students who require a more controlled
environment in order to learn. The Chancellor stated that she is not sure if a boarding
school is being considered, but that the District is examining best practices
throughout the country and is open to all solutions.

Councilmember Alexander asked MPD Chief Cathy Lanier to explain the efforts of
MPD’s truancy division. Chief Lanier stated truant students are picked up by MPD
truancy officers, the incident is documented, and the student is then transported back
to school. The Chief said that if a student will not identify himself, where he attends
school, or if the student is from outside the District, that student is taken to an interim
truancy center at 801 Shepherd Street. Chief Lanier stated parents are then contacted
to retrieve the student.

Councilmember Alexander asked Chief Lanier what sort of interaction occurs

between DCPS and MPD regarding students that are picked up for truancy. Chief
Lanier answered that DCPS and MPD conduct daily conference calls regarding
school-related issues. The Chief also stated that MPD has developed a database that
captures which students are truant and the frequency of the student’s truancy.

Councilmember Alexander asked Chief Lanier what sort of truancy statistics are kept.
Chief Lanier answered that daily statistics are kept, and that such numbers are
classified by patrol district so that MPD can increase efforts where needed.

Councilmember Alexander asked Superintendent Mahaley what should be done to

hold parents accountable. Superintendent Mahaley answered that families need
support and services, and it is essential that services are available to offer. The

26
Superintendent stated that when the families do not respond to that however, court
intervention should be considered, but only as a last resort.

Chancellor Henderson stated that unfortunately, some parents of truant students are
not equipped to be the best parents because they have not had the resources
necessary. Chancellor Henderson emphasized the importance of engaging parents
and assisting them to understand the importance of sending their child to school. The
Chancellor stated standards need to be clear on what is expected of the community to
get children to school.

Chairperson Biddle asked Chancellor Henderson what she perceived to be the main
cause of truancy. Chancellor Henderson answered that truancy causes can be divided
into two groups: what is happening inside of school and what is occurring in the
home. The Chancellor said that regarding the climate inside the school, students
avoid school because they perceive school as not engaging, fun or relevant. The
Chancellor also stated that schools can use sports, music, the arts, and career and
technical pathways as a pathway to get a student in school. She stated that outside of
the school, a student may have a safety concern to and from school or may be dealing
with poverty or health issues that prevent school attendance.

Chairperson Biddle agreed with the Chancellor regarding the importance of offering
students an opportunity to be engaged in the school experience, whether through
teams, clubs or other extracurricular activities. He said that regardless of their
motivation for attending school, the initial battle is physically getting the child to
school. The Chairperson also commented that the “outside of school” factors of
poverty, safety and health issues need to be addressed so that a student can
appropriately focus on school and not crises that may be plaguing the family, like
housing or food.

Chairperson Biddle discussed a bill he introduced, the School Transit Subsidy

Amendment Act of 2011 which would no longer effectively charge children to learn
by subsidizing a student’s total cost of traveling to and from school in the Metro
system.

27
III. Research on Best Practices

The Committee’s study on best practices 8 – programs, legislation and regulations in

jurisdictions across the Nation that have decreased truancy and increased school
completion – began with the research and assessment work conducted by the Department
of Education (DOE), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP),
the National Center for School Engagement (NCSE), the National Dropout Prevention
Center/Network (NDPC/N), the Colorado Foundation for Families and Children, and
others. Consistent in successful programs is a set of critical components: 9

• Collaboration among the school and its community, service agencies, law
enforcement, family courts, health and mental health organizations – all
groups that regulate truancy and work with families and students struggling
with truancy.
• Family Involvement -- engaging parents/guardians as a natural course of
events, not just when things are not going well.
• Comprehensive Approach -- focusing simultaneously on prevention and
intervention.
• Use Incentives and Sanctions – ensuring meaningful sanctions for truant
behavior and meaningful incentives for school attendance
• Develop a Supportive Context – ensuring the program is not fighting against
system infrastructure or acting in isolation.
• Evaluate the Program – looking critically at what is or isn’t working and
whether the program should continue

Programs identified by the Committee that could work in the District:

The following models and examples that are on interest of the Committee because they
are examples of prevention programs that are effective or appear promising in truancy
prevention. They also have incorporated of the above components.

Differential Response – State of Missouri

In 1994 the Missouri Senate passed a bill which allowed Missouri’s Division of Family
8
Best practices are methods or processes that have proven themselves over time to accomplish given
tasks. The idea is that with proper processes, checks and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered more
effectively with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. In addition, a "best" practice can evolve to
become better as improvements are discovered. Best practice is used to describe the process of developing
and following a standard way of doing things that multiple organizations can use.
9

http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/TruancyPreve
ntioninActionBestPracticesandModelTruancyPrograms-ExecutiveSummary.pdf

28
Services to create a dual track differential response model where families are screened
and assigned at intake of report for either the investigation or family assessment paths.
By redesigning the ways in which Family Services can respond to screened-in reports
alleging child maltreatment, the differential response approach creates more flexibility
for agencies and their staff. Differential response has two pathways to serve families, an
investigation pathway and a non-investigation pathway.

The investigation pathway is restricted to those referrals either in which the child has
been severely maltreated or in which it appears that there is imminent risk for further
abuse. In general, cases in which there appears to be a potential for involvement of the
judicial system, such as serious physical abuse or sexual abuse, are assigned to this
pathway. The investigation pathway typically requires the collection of forensic evidence
in order to substantiate the maltreatment allegation. Jurisdictions may also decide to
screen other types of cases, such as those involving institutional abuse or children with
certain disabilities, into the investigation pathway.

The non-investigation pathway is usually identified for cases that have been initially
classified as low or moderate risk. A key characteristic of the non-investigation pathway
is that it focuses on engaging the family in an assessment process to determine what they
need to provide for the children’s safety and well-being, and the provision of services to
meet those needs. It usually does not include a formal decision as to whether the specific
allegations were founded or not, and the family caregivers are not classified as
perpetrators, since no maltreatment is substantiated.

Two waves of evaluation were completed and various studies have been done on the
outcomes and implications of Missouri’s dual track differential response system. On all
accounts, this intervention has been successful as evaluations show that the safety of
children and the well-being of families are better safeguarded in a system where response
to families is immediate; worker’s attitude and approach yield non adversarial
collaborative interactions; and local agencies are involved with the family and the
community in a collaborative effort. Furthermore, Missouri also reports that by reducing
the number of children in foster care and reentering the system, funds can be reallocated
to support differential response initiatives and other front end reforms to strengthen
families.

Children and Family Research Center- University of Illinois School of Social Work:
Differential Response Literature Review
http://www.state.il.us/DCFS/docs/DRLitreview_11.21.09.pdf

Overview of Differential Response Programs

http://www.differentialresponseqic.org/assets/docs/qic-dr-lit-review-sept-09.pdf

29
Involvement Attorney General – Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles County has seen a reduction in truancy through a comprehensive plan that
includes involvement of the Attorney General. Abolish Chronic Truancy (ACT) is a
program that targets K-6th grade students and utilizes a series of progressively intrusive
steps to hold children and parents/guardians accountable for truancy.

The steps are as follows: (1) Letter is sent home to parents/guardians whose children have
school attendance problems; (2) Parents/guardians and children are invited to a meeting
with the deputy district attorney, also present are community based organizations and
school personnel to provide parenting classes, counseling and other needed services; (3)
Parents/guardians whose children continue to have attendance problems are invited to
attend a School Attendance Review Team (SART); (4) Students who continue to have
attendance problems are referred to School Attendance Review Board (SARB); and (5) if
all of the above steps fail, a case will be filed against the parent/guardian and/or child.

In 1993, out of 1379 families that received a letter (and remained at the same address),
83% improved from the letter, 15% improved from the SART, and 2% were referred to
SARB. There were no court fillings. 1994 statistics reveal that of the 3252 families who
received the letter, 88% improved from the letter, 11% improved from SART and less
than 1% required court filings. There are 162 schools in 17 districts involved with the
program in Los Angeles County. The ACT program has also been implemented in other
counties both in and out of the state.

http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resour
ces/ModelTruancyPreventionPrograms.pdf

http://da.lacounty.gov/pdf/act.pdf

School Policies -- reduction of suspensions – Baltimore, MD

Baltimore formerly had a policy that allowed for the suspension of students who had been
caught skipping school. The suspensions were forced absences of a school-created nature
that didn’t count toward truancy numbers, but contributed to Baltimore’s high chronic
absence rates: 34 percent of middle school students and 44 percent of high school
students were missing at least 20 days of class. The same analysis found one in six
elementary students chronically absent.

In an effort to limit student absences, Baltimore targeted its high suspension rate,
recognizing that sending children home just puts them further behind and makes them far
more likely to drop out. The district formed a work group, co-chaired by the Mayor and
Superintendent, and worked with advocates from the American Civil Liberties Union of
Maryland and others to improve the disciplinary code.

30
Removing absences and truancy from the code as suspendable offenses and evaluating
the number of young people removed from school for defiant behaviors such as acting
out or talking back has dropped Baltimore’s aggregate suspensions from 23,000 to 9,000
in a two-year period. Baltimore’s approach to reducing out-of-school removals
incorporates effective alternatives to suspension that do not force children out of school,
including restorative justice and school-wide positive behavior support. These positive
approaches provide mechanisms for teaching good behavior and pro-social attitudes and
involve parents and students as part of the solution.

Attendance data for the past three school years shows that chronic absence rates among
Baltimore’s middle grades students have been cut in half, and that elementary and high
school student’s attendance has modestly, but steadily, improved.
http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/childrights/content/articles/111210-
truancy.html
http://www.attendanceworks.org/what-works/baltimore/

Supportive Mentorship - Minneapolis, MN

Developed by the University of Minnesota, and successfully implemented by several

Dakota County schools, Check & Connect is a dropout prevention strategy that relies on
close monitoring of school performance, as well as mentoring, case management, and
other supports. The program has two main components: “Check” and “Connect.” The
Check component is designed to continually assess student engagement through close
monitoring of student performance and progress indicators. The Connect component
involves program staff giving individualized attention to students, in partnership with
school personnel, family members, and community service providers.

Students enrolled in Check & Connect are assigned a mentor who regularly reviews their
performance in the areas of attendance, behavior, or academic problems and intervenes
when problems are identified. The person is a cross between a mentor, an advocate, and
a service coordinator whose primary goal is to keep education a salient issue for
disengaged students, as well as their teachers and family members. The monitor also
advocates for students, coordinates services, provides ongoing feedback and
encouragement, and emphasizes the importance of staying in school.

Check & Connect is structured to maximize personal contact and opportunities to build
trusting relationships. Student levels of engagement, including attendance, grades, and
suspensions, are checked regularly and used to guide the mentors’ efforts to increase and
maintain students’ connection with school.

Check & Connect was found to have positive effects on staying in school and potentially
31
positive effects on progressing in school. It was found to have no discernible effects on
completing school within four years of entering the program.

http://checkandconnect.org/model/default.html

Comprehensive, Collaborative Approach – New York City, New York

The Center for New York City Affairs released a report finding that one of every five
students in kindergarten through fifth grades was chronically absent, missing 10 percent
of the school days. This rate was even higher in the poorest neighborhoods. In response,
the city Department of Education began working with elementary schools experiencing
the highest levels of chronic absence. Schools began actively reaching out to parents of
chronically absent students through letters and meetings aimed at informing them about
the adverse impact of poor attendance and connecting them to community resources. The
Education Department also created a new report that regularly monitors levels of chronic
absence.

In August of 2010, the Mayor’s office created an Interagency Task Force on Truancy,
Chronic Absenteeism & School Engagement and mandated that the heads of all youth
serving city agencies serve as its members. The Task Force is charged with developing
the first-ever multi-sector, comprehensive strategy to reduce chronic absenteeism at city
schools.

The Task Force launched its first set of initiatives as part of its Every Student Every Day
campaign. These initiatives specifically target 25 pilot schools with above average levels
of absenteeism. This is done by using data to identify early warning signals, creating
new models to connect schools to local resources and services, and providing mentors for
students who were chronically absent last year or missing too many days this year. The
plan focuses largely on students in elementary and middle school because of the close
link between absenteeism in those grades and school failure and drop out rates.

While each of the 25 pilot schools are implementing programs unique to their students’
needs, each school is required to have several key components. These include Electronic
Data dashboards to track attendance, behavior, and coursework and evaluate
interventions. In addition, principal-led attendance meetings are held weekly to review
data and discuss chronically absent students with school leadership and community based
partners. Success mentors are assigned to work with students who are missing too much
school. Regular contact with students and parents is maintained by utilizing letters and
daily phone calls home. School wide attendance promotions, such as pep rallies,
contests, and Student Success Summits are held at each school throughout the year. In
addition, there is collaboration between the schools, health officials, and faith-based
organizations. Fifteen homeless shelters have been selected for pilot programs to to
address the academic needs of children there, and all NYC shelters now have Student

32
Homework Centers. Incentives for good attendance are offered by Starbucks, the NY
Yankees, Old Navy, Office Depot and NY Skyride.

The effort, which launched in the fall, has already shown progress at some schools. At the
Task Force’s 10 elementary schools, chronic absenteeism was down by 24 percent over
last year; at the Task Force’s eight middle schools, it was down by 16 percent. High
school rates are proving more intractable, as is often the case.

http://www.attendanceworks.org/what-works/new-york-city/

The New York City Council also passed the Student Safety Act in December, 2010,
requiring the NYC Department of Education and NYC Police Department to accurately
report, on a quarterly basis, all school-based disciplinary actions and arrests
disaggregated by race, gender, grade level, age, and whether the student receives special
education or English Language Learner services. Continued monitoring is important to
measure the depth of the truancy problem and the success of any interventional programs,
within a given school system.

Further Information:
http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resour
ces/ModelTruancyPreventionPrograms.pdf

Additional resources

National Center for School Engagement (NCSE)- Promoting attendance, attachment, and
achievement.
http://www.truancyprevention.org/

Attendance Works, established in January 2010, is the only national initiative specifically
dedicated to reducing chronic absence in American schools.
http://www.attendanceworks.org/what-works/

National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention
http://www.promoteprevent.org/publications/prevention-briefs/truancy-prevention

U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences- What Works

Clearinghouse
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/Topicarea.aspx?tid=06 (dropout prevention)

American Bar Association – Search: Truancy

http://search.americanbar.org/search?q=truancy&client=default_frontend&proxystyleshe
et=default_frontend&site=default_collection&output=xml_no_dtd&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-
8&ud=1

33
Truancy Prevention in Action – Best Practices and Model Truancy Programs, a report
from the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network
http://cle.osu.edu/familycivicengagement/documents/references-and-
guides/downloads/best-practices-and-model-truancy-programs.pdf

34
IV. Recommendations

Recommendations for immediate action

The Committee finds that the Families Together Amendment Act of 2010 (passed but
awaiting funding) would address many of the needs identified by the witnesses, experts
and administrators who contributed to the current report. The Act should be fully funded
and implemented to put in place the differential response system that has worked well in
other jurisdictions. While full funding for the differential response system is ideal,
funding of a pilot program could begin implementation this time.

The Committee recommends passage of the School Transit Subsidy Amendment Act
of 2011 into law. Introduced by Chairperson Biddle and co-sponsored by
Councilmembers Alexander, Cheh, Thomas, Bowser, M. Brown, and Barry as a response
to numerous school administrators, teachers, parents, and students, the Committee
supports full subsidy of student transportation. With 17 percent of District residents
living below the poverty line, many families must choose essentials like food or
electricity over Metro or bus fare required to get their children to school. Passage of this
bill will ensure that families are no longer forced to choose between their basic needs and
education.

The Committee recommends passage of the South Capitol Street Tragedy Memorial
Act of 2011. The bill was introduced by Councilmembers Catania, Biddle, Wells and M.
Brown and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Alexander, Cheh, Evans, and Graham.
Passage of the bill will be a great victory for the children of the District, as well as a
considerable step toward success in resolving the root causes of truancy. The bill will
ensure that the District’s youngest citizens receive the behavioral health resources
necessary to be successful in school and flourish as productive members of society.
Undiagnosed and unaddressed behavioral health needs are a primary cause of truancy; the
early intervention of such needs provided for in The bill will help prevent more serious,
more costly issues that would certainly develop without such intervention.

The Committee recommends the creation of a process within the Office of the Attorney
General by which a truancy letter signed by the attorney general is sent to a student who
is truant a specified number of days. Other jurisdictions have incorporated similar letters
as part of a comprehensive truancy program, yielding the highest, most cost-effective
results. The Committee recommends implementing the Minnesota Model’s use of the
truancy letter and advocates sending out this truancy letter by the third day of consecutive
truancy.

The Committee recommends the Summer Youth Employment Program’s (“SYEP”) use
of a differential pay system. Student participants in the SYEP have stated that they are
often discouraged by participating in the program because they find themselves in

35
competition for limited slots or job placements with participants that have been
suspended for disciplinary reasons or have missed a substantial portion of the school
year. Additionally, parents of students in the SYEP have suggested that perhaps there
should be academic and attendance requirements for participation in the SYEP. The
Committee supports a differential pay system, whereby students with good GPAs and
attendance records should be paid more than underperforming students.

The Committee recommends increased vigilance on the Metro and an increase of MTPD
officers at high traffic stations during the hours immediately prior to and after school
release. The Committee recommends that by the start of the 2011-2012 school year,
MPD, MTPD and DCPS have made efforts to convene and delegate which agency will be
responsible for student safety and truancy at any given time. Such efforts by these
agencies should be periodic and ongoing.

The Committee advocates efforts to resolve the shortage of quality mental health
professionals serving the District. The Committee also endorses full staffing of DMH’s
finance department to maximize the District’s opportunity for federal Medicaid funds.

The Committee advocates that all DC schools use discipline methods such as suspension
and expulsion sparingly and as a last resort.
The Committee recommends investigation of whether any public school is using a “lock
out” policy, which forbids tardy students to enter the school premises for the entire
school day and that public schools understand that such policies are not acceptable.

The Committee recommends that all DC schools implement a behavior intervention

model proven to reduce classroom discipline problems and improve attendance. The
Committee suggests the designation of a faculty member in each school to make personal
phone calls to parents or guardians within one class period when a child is absent as well
as increasing time designated for teachers to conduct home visits, conferences with
parents and make daily telephone calls to parents of absent students.

The Committee fully advocates continuation and funding of the Criminal Justice
Coordinating Council’s Truancy Task Force and that MTPD be added to the Task
Force as a stakeholder in truancy prevention effective immediately. The Committee
suggests engaging District residents in the Truancy Task Force’s media campaign to
educate the public on the effects of truancy. The Committee also recommends offering a
Truancy Hotline so that the public can report suspected truant activity. Also
recommended are efforts to increase the public’s involvement in the solution to truancy.

The Committee advocates more robust policies protecting LGBTQ students and
promoting a positive classroom environment through diversity training for faculty and
staff. Also endorsed is training on LGBTQ related student issues for all school faculty
and staff, including at the elementary school level. The Committee recommends
collection of more accurate data on school bullying and harassment and anti-bullying

36
policies that are clearly posted within the schools and understood among the students and
faculty. The Committee suggests schools make the process of reporting incidents of
bullying and harassment clear, and that students know which adult within the school is
designated to handle such incidents. The encouragement of openly GLBT faculty within
schools to further foster an environment of acceptance is also supported. The Committee
recommends efforts to implement a student-led, faculty supported Gay-Straight Alliance
group in all schools.

The Committee suggests the implementation of programs like Safe Takoma’s

Community Conference throughout the city, to mediate student disputes in a formal
manner that holds the students responsible for future behavior.

The Committee recommends the institution of programs similar to the Byer model
described by German Vigil in schools, consisting of assigning each school a judge who is
able to identify a cohort of youth susceptible to truancy and recruiting parents to
participate in truancy education programs as an alternative to truancy court.

The Committee suggests an effort by schools to schedule high-interest and extracurricular

classes during the first two periods of the school day, to encourage student attendance.

The Committee advocates intervention across all grade levels, noting different causes of
truancy at the elementary level versus high school level. The Committee advises
programs at the elementary level be funded aggressively and given the same attention and
importance as high school truancy prevention programs.

The Committee recommends continued research and review of the:

• Impact of New York City programs in regard to truancy, particularly the practices of
parental notification on the day of an absence and utilizing a more efficient real-time
attendance tracking system.

• Identification of effective retention policies for grade and middle school students who
are not mastering grade level material.

• Implementation of a life skills curriculum, as well as offering remedial curriculum for

students who need a more basic educational foundation.

• Delivery of extracurricular activities like sports, music and clubs and increasing
activities for students, both in school and after school.

• Determination most effective combination of incentives and sanctions and how

emphasize prevention and intervention, instead of judicial remedies.

• Means for holding a parent accountable for their child when the child is not attending
37
 school, but through evaluation of the climate in the home.

• Identification of how to effectively use a volunteer task force comprised of

representative members of each community group affected by school suspensions and
expulsions was given, possibly for home visits on the first day a child is absent from
school.

• Study of effective use of sanctions such as reducing TANF payments, parenting

workshops consent and accountability measures that demand parents to engage in
their child’s academics, especially for TANF recipients.

• Study of effective balance of law enforcement officers, security guards, etc. in

schools.

• Study of impact of daycare facilities in the high schools impacted by teenage

parenting, as well as support services for homeless youth.

• Establish of LGBTQ support groups in each public school. Such support groups
should be student-led organizations, with the sponsorship of supported faculty.

V. Committee Action

The Committee met on April 18, 2010, to consider and approve an Interim Report
and Recommendations on School Safety and Truancy. Chairperson Biddle moved for
approval of the interim report with allowance for the Committee Staff to make technical
and conforming changes to the report.

Committee members voted as follows:

Committee members voting in favor:

Committee members voting against:

Committee members absent:

Committee members voting present:

VIII. Attachments

Appendix A Current laws, regulations and rulings

Existing DC Truancy Laws

38
District of Columbia Public Schools Truancy and Dropout Prevention Program Act
of 1998
DC Code § 38-252

 District of Columbia Public Schools shall offer a Truancy and Dropout Prevention
Program for students who are enrolled in the District of Columbia Public Schools
system.
 The programs should be implemented on a full-time basis, work with local schools
and parents, and provide resources that will help reduce absences and unexcused
absences, and reduce dropout and increase retention rates.
 The program shall develop a supportive relationship with the Metropolitan Police
Department.
 The program shall be available for students who are enrolled in grades K-12 and for
students who are enrolled in non-graded classes in elementary, middle or junior high,
and high schools.

Truancy Centers Amendment Act of 2008

DC Code § 38-251. Authority of police over truant child.

 The Office of the State Superintendent of Education, after consultation with the
District of Columbia Public Schools, the Public Charter School Board, the Child and
Family Services agency, and the Metropolitan Police Department, shall establish
truancy centers in the District of Columbia for the delivery of truant public school and
public charter school students by the Metropolitan Police Department.
 A law enforcement officer shall take to the truancy center in the ward where the
student is found, any child who the law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to
believe, based on the child's age and other factors, is truant from a public or public
charter school on a day and during the hours when the public or public charter school
is in session."

Criteria for Intake

Rules Governing Juvenile Proceedings
D.C. Code § 11-1101

Delinquency Cases. In determining whether the best interest of the respondent or the
public require that a petition be filed, the intake unit shall consider the following factors:

 The Seriousness of the Alleged Act(s).

 The Respondent's Record of Prior Police and Court Contacts.
 Whether the Alleged Delinquent Act Was Committed Under Mitigating
 Circumstances or Other Conditions Rendering Judicial Action Inappropriate.
 Whether a Petition Has Been or Will Be Filed Against an Alleged Co-Respondent for
Substantially Similar Acts.

39
Need of Supervision Cases. In determining whether the best interest of the respondent or
the public require that a petition be filed, the intake unit shall consider the following
factors:

 In habitual truancy cases, the mental and physical condition of the respondent, the
number of alleged absences from school, the circumstances surrounding such
absences, the efforts of the school or other community resources to remedy the
situation, and whether or not judicial action appears appropriate and reasonably likely
to remedy the situation.
 In cases of offenses committable only by children, the nature and seriousness of the
alleged offense, the circumstances surrounding the offense, and whether or not
judicial action appears appropriate and reasonably likely to help.
 In cases of habitual disobedience and ungovernability, the specific acts of
disobedience charged, the circumstances surrounding such acts, the reasonableness of
the parental commands allegedly violated, the reasonableness of the respondent's
actions in the light of prevailing community standards, whether or not there are non-
judicial community services which might better serve the respondent's or the family's
needs without the filing of a petition, and whether or not judicial action appears
appropriate and reasonably likely to help.

Interagency Collaboration and Services Integration Commission

DC Code § 2-1595. Duties

Within 90 days of the applicability of this subchapter, the Commission shall:

(1) Develop an information-sharing agreement that:

 Adheres to all applicable provisions of federal and District law and professional
standards regarding confidentiality, including Commission procedures and protocols
for safeguarding confidential and other child-related information;
 Uses a form created by the Commission for obtaining consent to assessment and
disclosure of confidential information from a participant or the parent or legal
guardian of the participant to education, law enforcement, and human service
agencies; and
 Permits Commission personnel to collect information from agencies participating in
the agreement to facilitate comprehensive multi-disciplinary assessments and the
development and implementation of integrated service plans;

(2) Develop procedures and protocols for safeguarding confidential and other participant-
related information, documents, files, electronic communications, and computer data,
including:
 Procedures for determining when a fully informed and written consent to assessment
and disclosure of confidential information is provided by a participant or the parent or
legal guardian of the participant; and

40
 The circumstances and manner in which confidential information collected and
maintained by designated personnel of the Commission may be disclosed, as
permitted by applicable provisions of local and federal law, to:
 Other personnel of the Commission for the exclusive purposes of conducting
comprehensive, multi-disciplinary assessments of children or creating and
implementing integrated service plans for children; and
 Education, law enforcement, human service agencies, or other service providers
identified in the disclosure consent for the exclusive purpose of creating and
implementing integrated service plans; and

(3) Identify a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary assessment instrument that shall be used

by school-based clinicians to:
 Determine the extent to which children are affected by risk and protective factors as
individuals and as members of families, communities, and schools;
 Determine the extent to which children have service needs resulting from emotional
disturbance, substance abuse, exposure to violence, or learning disabilities;
 Provide therapeutic interventions; and
Assist in the development of integrated service plans;

(c) The Commission shall:

 Have authority over an interagency database housed in a secure location to store
assessment information, data gathered pursuant to the information-sharing agreement
described in subsection (a) of this section, and any other data relevant to service
integration and the ongoing assessment of programs implemented or supported by the
Commission;
 Conduct an annual independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs
supported, facilitated, or overseen by the Commission, including:
(A) The impact on academic performance, levels of violence by and against
children, truancy, and delinquency; and
(B) The cost effectiveness of the programs, taking into account such factors as
reductions, or potential reductions, in out-of-home placements and in law
enforcement expenditures, and the extent to which the Commission's member
agencies have developed the capacity to sustain the programs and activities;
(3)(A) Report, on an annual basis, within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year,
to the Mayor and the Council on the status and progress of the efforts to meet the
objectives of the Commission, including a description of activities, alignment
with the statewide education and youth development framework and strategic
plan, and the results of the evaluation required by paragraph (2) of this subsection
and any recommendations made by the Commission to the public, the Mayor, or
the Council;
 Make available on the Deputy Mayor for Education's website:
(A) An updated list and description of ongoing initiatives and subcommittees of the
Commission.

41
Reports of Neglected Children
DC Code § 4-1321.02. Persons required to make reports; procedure.

 A person specified in subsection (b) of this section shall report to the Child and
Family Services Agency any child who is age 5 through 13 years and who has 10 or
more days of unexcused absences within a school year, as that term is defined in §
38-201(4).
 Each public, independent, private, or parochial school shall report to the Child and
Family Services Agency any child who is 5 through 13 years and who has 10 or more
days of Search Term Begin unexcused absences Search Term End within a school
year, as that term is defined in § 38-201(4); provided, that this provision shall not
supersede section 2103.5 of Title 5 of the District of Columbia Municipal
Regulations.
 A report made pursuant to this subsection shall not be considered a child abuse or
neglect report as that term is defined in § 4-1301.02(17), requiring an investigation
pursuant to Part A of subchapter I of this chapter.

Eligibility for public assistance; learn fare.

DC Code § 4-205.65.

 As a condition of eligibility for federally-funded TANF benefits, a pregnant or

parenting teen who is not married and has not successfully completed a high school
education or its equivalent shall be required to attend school regularly (as defined by
the Board or other entity that determines the attendance policies at the pregnant or
parenting teen's educational institution or program) or be determined ineligible for
federally-funded TANF benefits.
 The requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not affect the eligibility for
TANF benefits of a child living with a pregnant or parenting teen who, if otherwise
eligible, may receive TANF benefits determined without regard to the needs of the
ineligible pregnant or parenting teen.
 The types of schools that can be attended to meet the school attendance requirements
of subsection (a) of this subsection are as follows: a public school, private school,
independent school, parochial school, private instruction, or a course of study or
home school program meeting the standards established by the Board for granting a
high school equivalency diploma.
 A pregnant or parenting teen who fails to meet the school attendance requirements set
forth in subsection (a) of this section shall be provided counseling, tutoring, or other
supportive services deemed appropriate by the Department to help the pregnant or
parenting teen improve school attendance, or in the case of a drop-out, to return to
school. Such supportive services will be provided as appropriations are available and
in accordance with regulations issued by the Mayor.

Public Education-Primary and Secondary, School Attendance.

42
DC Code § 38-203. Enforcement; penalties.

 An accurate daily record of the attendance of all minors covered by § 38-202 and this
section shall be kept by the teachers of each public, independent, private, or parochial
school and by every teacher who gives instruction privately. These records shall be
open for inspection at all times by the Board, the Superintendent of Schools, school
attendance officers, or other persons authorized to enforce this subchapter.
 It shall be the duty of each principal, head teacher, or school administrative officer as
designated in each public, independent, private, or parochial school, and of each
teacher who gives private instruction to report to the Board the school attendance of
any minor covered by § 38-202(a) who is enrolled in a school or who is enrolled for
private instruction and who is absent from school or instruction for more than 2 full-
day sessions or 4 half-day sessions in any school month, along with a statement of the
reasons for the absences.
 The absence a minor covered by § 38-202(a) without valid excuse shall be unlawful.
 The parent, guardian, or other person who has custody or control of a minor covered
by § 38-202(a) who is absent from school without a valid excuse shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
 Any person convicted of failure to keep a minor in regular attendance in a public,
independent, private, or parochial school, or failure to provide regular private
instruction acceptable to the Board may be fined not less than $100 or imprisoned for
not more than 5 days, or both for each offense.
 Each unlawful absence of a minor for 2 full-day sessions or for 4 half-day sessions
during a school month shall constitute a separate offense.
 For the 1st offense, upon payment of costs, the sentence may be suspended and the
defendant may be placed on probation.
 For any person convicted under this section, the courts shall consider requiring the
offender to perform community service as an alternative to fine or imprisonment or
both.
 Within 60 days after the end of a school year, each public, independent, private, or
parochial school shall report to the Mayor, or the Mayor's designee, and make
publicly available, the following data based on the preceding school year:
(A) The number of minors, categorized by grade, or equivalent grouping for
ungraded schools, who had unexcused absences for:

(i) One to 5 days;

(ii) Six to 10 days;
(iii) Eleven to 20 days; and
(iv) Twenty-one or more days;
(B) The number of minors, categorized by grade, or equivalent grouping
for ungraded schools, that the school reported to the Child and Family
Services Agency pursuant to § 4-1321.02(a-1) and (a-2); and
(C) The policy on absences, including defined categories of valid excuses that it used.

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Crimes Committed Against Minors.
DC Code § 22-811. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

It is unlawful for an adult, being 4 or more years older than a minor, to invite, solicit,
recruit, assist, support, cause, encourage, enable, induce, advise, incite, facilitate, permit,
or allow the minor to be truant from school.

Loitering around business establishments prohibited during school hours.

DC Code § 36-521.

No owner or employee of a business establishment shall permit a minor under the age of
16, having reasonable grounds to believe that such minor is a truant or unlawfully absent
from school, to loiter on the premises of such business establishment during those hours
when school is in session. Any person violating the provisions of this section may be
fined not less than $25 nor more than $300, or may be imprisoned for not less than 10
days or longer than 30 days.

DC Municipal Regulations

Education; attendance and transfers; definitions.

5 DCMR §2199.2

 “Educational neglect” means the failure of a parent or guardian to ensure that a child
attends school consistent with the requirements of the law including, without
limitation, the failure to enroll a school-age child in an educational institution or
provide appropriate private instruction; permitting habitual absenteeism from school;
inattention to special education needs; refusal to allow or failure to obtain
recommended remedial education services; or the failure to obtain treatment or other
special education services without reasonable cause.

 “Truant” means a school-age child who is absent without a valid excuse in

compliance with section 2103 of this chapter.

 “Unexcused absence” means an absence of a school-age child from any portion of

the school day without a valid excuse consistent with the requirements of this chapter.

Education; attendance and transfers; attendance records.

5 DCMR §2101

2101.1 Each educational institution shall maintain an accurate daily record of

attendance and absences, consistent with data and reporting requirements
specified by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for each
school-age child.

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Education; attendance and transfers; closed campuses.
5 DCMR §2102.1

2102.1 Any absence, including an absence from any portion of the day, without a
valid excuse shall be presumed to be an unexcused absence.

Education; attendance and transfers; truancy procedure.

5 DCMR §2103

2103.1 Each school-age child who resides in the District of Columbia shall attend
a public, independent, private, or parochial school or otherwise receive a
thorough and regular education through private instruction pursuant to
rules established by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

2103.2 Each LEA shall develop and implement in each of its schools a specific
protocol for absenteeism (absenteeism protocol) that focuses on
prevention of unexcused absences, also referred to as truancy, including
academic and behavioral interventions to address the needs of students.

2103.3 Each LEA shall include as part of its absenteeism protocol the following:
(a) A description of valid excused absences consistent with this
chapter;
(b) A process for informing, training, and educating school staff,
students, parents, guardians, and the community of the LEA with
regard to enhancing school attendance, implementing truancy
reduction methods, administering attendance policies and
procedures, and related collaborative services;
(c) Procedures for monitoring, reporting, addressing, and evaluating
attendance and absences consistent with District of Columbia
attendance and absence reporting requirements including:
(1) A procedure requiring personal contact(s) with the parent
or guardian of a student, each time a student has the
equivalent of one (1) day of unexcused absence and
defining the reasonable timeframe in which this contact
must be made;
(2) A continuum of school practices and services including
meaningful supports, incentives, intervention strategies,
and consequences for dealing with absenteeism and
consultation with parents or guardians, both at the onset of
absenteeism and in those circumstances where chronic
absenteeism persists;

(3) A referral process whereby within two (2) school days after

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 a student has accumulated five (5) or more unexcused
absences in one (1) marking period or other similar time
frame, the student shall be referred to a school-based
student support team which will meet within two (2) days
of the referral and regularly thereafter to:

(A) Review and address the student’s attendance and

related issues;

(B) Communicate and/or collaborate with the parents or

guardian;

(C) Provide timely response to the student’s truant

behavior;

(D) Make recommendations for academic, diagnostic,

or social work services;

(E) Use school and community resources to abate the

student’s truancy including referral to a community-
based organization when available; and

(F) Develop an attendance intervention plan in

consultation with the student’s parents or guardian.

(4) If a student accumulates ten (10) unexcused absences at

any time during a school year, the school-based student
support team assigned to the student shall notify the school
administrator within two (2) days after the tenth (10th)
unexcused absence with a plan for immediate intervention
including delivery of community-based programs and any
other assistance or services to identify and address the
student’s needs on an emergency basis; and

(5) A process at the LEA, including specific due process

procedures, for a parent, guardian, or student to appeal any
attendance violation decisions made by the LEA or an
individual school within an LEA.
2103.4 Each LEA shall maintain records and report in a format consistent with
data reporting requirements specified by the Office of the State
Superintendent of Education.

2103.5 Each LEA shall develop a process to refer students to District of Columbia
entities outside the LEA under the following circumstances:

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 (a) Students between the ages of five (5) and thirteen (13) shall be
referred by the LEA to the Child and Family Services Agency
(CFSA) no later than two (2) school days after the accrual of ten
(10) consecutive unexcused absences and/or completion of the
procedures specified in Section 2103.3 of this chapter, or
immediately at any time that educational neglect is suspected;
(b) Students between the ages of five (5) and thirteen (13) shall be
referred by the LEA to the Child and Family Services Agency
(CFSA) no later than two (2) school days after the accrual of
twenty (20) unexcused absences within one (1) school year and
completion of the intervention process or immediately at any time
educational neglect is suspected; and
(c) Students over the age of thirteen (13) shall be referred by the LEA
to the Court Social Services Division of the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia and the Office of the Attorney General
(OAG) Juvenile Section no later than two (2) school days after the
accrual of twenty five (25) or more unexcused absences at any
time within one (1) school year.
2103.6 Copies of the following documents shall be provided with a referral made
pursuant to this chapter:
(a) The student’s attendance and absence record;

(b) Any prevention and intervention plans;

(c) Documentation related to referrals and outcome of such referrals;

(d) Documentation representing evidence of communications,

services, and attendance related interventions taken by the school;

(e) Documentation of suspected educational neglect;

(f) Documentation of personal contacts with, and written notification

to, parents or guardians with regard to the unexcused absences; and

(g) If applicable, the student’s Individualized Education Program with

any supporting evaluations or assessments.

2103.7 Written notification of any referral made pursuant to this Section shall be
provided to a parent or guardian at the time a referral is made.
2103.8 The standards for school attendance may identify a specific number of
excessive or unexcused absences allowed within a marking period,
semester, or school year, provided that reporting is consistent with
applicable laws and regulations.
2103.9 The Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall develop

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 reporting procedures as appropriate to assist educational institutions and
private instructors with compliance with reporting requirements under
applicable federal and District of Columbia laws.

2103.10 The Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall evaluate the
effectiveness of these regulations and make further recommendations as
appropriate to the State Board of Education. The State Board of
Education shall have the opportunity to revisit the regulation’s
effectiveness on an annual basis.

Education; attendance and transfers; reporting requirements.

5 DCMR §2104

2104.1 An educational institution shall submit to the Office of the State

Superintendent of Education, upon request, information relating to
attendance and compulsory education in conformance with this chapter.

2104.2 Each educational institution subject to this chapter shall provide to the
State Superintendent of Education, upon request, information relating to a
report of enrollments and withdrawals in conformance with D.C. Official
Code §38-205.

2104.3 The reports required under this chapter shall, to the extent practicable,
conform to the format requested by the Office of the State Superintendent
of Education and include the name, address, sex, date of birth, and student
identification number as appropriate, of each minor residing permanently
or temporarily in the District of Columbia who enrolls in, withdraws from,
or transfers from an educational institution.

2104.4 An educational institution shall notify the Office of the State

Superintendent of Education immediately upon information, reason, or
belief that a school-age child who has been withdrawn from a school has
not been re-enrolled in a school following withdrawal from school or is
not receiving private instruction.

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