Schools in Bond, Christian, Effingham, Fayette and Montgomery Counties report truancy to the Regional Office of Education. The Illinois School Code gives the Regional Superintendent of Schools authority to appoint a Truant Officer. The Regional Superintendent has designated a truant officer to serve our five counties. The truant officer works directly with students, parents, school officials and law enforcement agencies with the goal of keeping students in school.
Chronic truancy is defined as a student who is absent without valid cause five percent (nine days) of the previous 180 school days. If excessive truancy is an ongoing issue despite supportive services being provided by the school, a student is to be referred to the Regional Office of Education. Upon receipt of referral, the ROE will immediately begin to monitor the student's attendance. Continued absences will result in formal communication with the family from the ROE with the potential for direct referral to the State's Attorney requesting charges be filed against the parent or legal guardian.
For information or clarification, please contact Julie Morell & Cathy Jones, Truant Officers for Bond, Christian, Effingham, Fayette and Montgomery Counties at (618) 283-5011.
RAP (Regular Attendance Program) has served the educational service region since 1989. Referrals for students are received from building principals. This program works one-on-one with students in grades K through 8 who exhibit poor attendance. The attendance specialist works as a liaison between the school, family and student. RAP’s goal is to increase a student’s self-esteem while working with the student and his/her family to diagnose problems and promote better school attendance. The RAP specialist helps the student set individual goals for better attendance and then monitors the attendance to reinforce good habits. The Department of Human Services also works closely with RAP on the mandated attendance measures for Public Aid recipients. Additionally, RAP provides a prevention program to grade 3 students in an extended effort to prevent truancy. RAP specialists work closely with the region’s truancy officer to provide effective truancy measures in our region.
For more information or clarification on RAP, please contact:
Details on the RAP referral process as well as forms and sample letters are available from your RAP specialist.