Truancy focuses on the child. For a child to be found habitually truant, the child must intend to be truant. The law presumes a child twelve and older is truant, but this is not a hard and fast rule.
Educational neglect focuses on the parent.
For a child to be found the subject of educational neglect, the parent must have been unable or unwilling to meet the child's educational needs. Parents may actually have encouraged the child to not attend school for a variety of reasons or are unwilling to enforce regular attendance. The law requires that the school has made efforts to resolve the attendance problem before referring the matter to the court. The initial school meeting with the parents and child should be used to clarify the attendance policy and the compulsory attendance law. A notice to the parent 2.