They Didn’t Turn In Their Work For Remote School. Their Parents Were Threatened With Court And Fines.
Tags: Help, World News, Image, Ws, Videos

Hayden, 12, had been having panic attacks about school even before a letter arrived at his home last month, threatening legal action for his alleged absences from distance learning.

The sixth-grader has been attending online class from his home outside Austin, Texas, since August, and having difficulties adjusting. When his grades dropped, he started having intense bouts of anxiety, working himself up until he cried so hard he could barely catch his breath. He wailed that he hated himself and wished he could do better in school.

When the letter arrived from Round Rock School District in November, saying that legal charges punishable by fines or court action could be brought against his mother for his absences, Hayden spiraled into a dayslong episode, says his mother Holly Barentine. He started crying even before they finished reading the letter, disclosing fears about worst-case scenarios that he would fail his classes. When he went to stay the night at his dad’s house, the crying continued. His father emailed Barentine, expressing concern for their son’s well-being.

site:

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Hnt-v-Gal-Liv-hd1.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Hnt-v-Gal-Liv-hd2.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Hnt-v-Gal-Liv-hd3.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Hnt-v-Gal-Liv-hd4.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Hnt-v-Gal-Liv-hd5.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sydney-v-Super-Fight-Live-boxing-ck6.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sydney-v-Super-Fight-Live-boxing-ck7.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sydney-v-Super-Fight-Live-boxing-ck8.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sydney-v-Super-Fight-Live-boxing-ck9.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sydney-v-Super-Fight-Live-boxing-ck10.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sy-v-Su1.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sy-v-Su2.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sy-v-Su3.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sy-v-Su4.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Sy-v-Su5.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-bk04.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-bk03.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-bk02.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-bk01.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak09.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak08.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak07.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak06.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak05.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak04.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak03.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak02.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-ak01.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Gallen-v-Hunt-Fight-Lm01.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Gallen-v-Hunt-Fight-Lm02.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Gallen-v-Hunt-Fight-Lm03.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Gallen-v-Hunt-Fight-Lm04.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm01.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm02.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm03.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm04.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm05.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm06.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Morgan-v-Tszyu-Fight-Lm07.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-Fight-Liv-lm01.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-Fight-Liv-lm02.html

http://www.mtbtrailstrust.org.nz/vox/Video-Tszyu-v-Morgan-Fight-Liv-lm03.html

Hayden, a sixth-grader, hadn’t actually been missing online school. However, his school district only counts kids present in some classes if they both show up and submit their homework for the day. Some of Hayden’s homework hadn’t been reaching his teachers due to apparent technological glitches on the school’s online platform, or in some cases because he hadn’t handed it in ― an oversight he didn’t expect to be met with potential legal action.

Around the country, school districts are subject to state truancy laws and regulations. However, as the coronavirus pandemic has turned schools upside down and put most learning online, some of these rules are bumping against new realities involving technology gaps or a lack of parental supervision. Amid a global health crisis, threats like the one Round Rock sent to Barentine strike her as particularly archaic.

Barentine immediately emailed her son’s school upon receiving the letter.

“I have received a truancy notification for my son, who has been having extreme technical issues,” she wrote to administrators. “I have met with his teachers and gone over this, and I think it’s highly inappropriate to be sending out these notices to anyone during a pandemic, when we’re all doing the best we can.”

In recent years, truancy policies have started shifting away from punitive measures to providing more support for students who are chronically absent. Most states have some sort of truancy laws on the books, but only about half still have policies punishing truancy with potential penal measures, according to the national policy group Education Commission of the States.

Where Barentine lives in Texas, the law changed several years ago for truancy, instead putting in place school-level prevention programs. Students who are 12 and older may still get referred to truancy court, and parents found to have contributed to nonattendance can face fines and charges. In other states, like Alabama, parents who contribute to a child’s truancy “may also be sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than 90 days.”

During a pandemic, when there’s no uniform way of counting attendance, Hedy Chang, director of the advocacy group Attendance Works, has seen districts rethinking some of these rules, with their ability to do so varying on state flexibility.

“Threatening families with court isn’t what allows you to unpack what’s going on or come up with solutions, and I think this was true before the pandemic, and the pandemic, as with many situations, has made it even more clear,” said Chang.