Nicholas County Circuit Judge Gary L. Johnson could have a solution to the state's truancy problem, and it could be as simple as providing a clearer, more unified definition of educational neglect.
Johnson spoke to members of the House Education Committee Feb. 16 explaining the impact of truancy on the state. In his home county, Johnson said his truancy program has raised attendance by 5 percent in the past few years.
"I had seen so many young men and women in the courts and I did my research and found that 80-90 percent of people sentenced never finished high school," Johnson said. "So I met with the superintendent and the prosecutor and we put a plan together."
The county's program works on three different levels, Johnson explained. To appear before the judge, kids must first have 10 unexcused absences. If an elementary school student misses more than 10 unexcused days of school, an abuse or neglect petition could be filed.
For middle-schoolers or high-schoolers, kids can be referred to juvenile probation officers if parents are doing everything they can to keep kids in school. Students also could be referred to the state's Department of Health and Human Resources if there is an underlying issue such as abuse or neglect.
Johnson is not the only one to take up the issue of truancy. In fact, earlier last year, West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis led several regional truancy meetings in an effort to understand and fix truancy problems in the state. Alan Moats, 19th judicial circuit judge, also has been active in addressing the issue.
According to an earlier presentation by Moats, eight out of 10 prisoners in West Virginia are truants and in the past decade, there has been a spike in crime for people in the 18 to 25 age range.
One of the main problems, Johnson said, is creating a uniform definition of educational neglect. Johnson said the importance of creating a uniform definition is so every county's students are treated equally in these proceedings.
"There is a loophole so big you can drive a tractor trailer through it," Johnson said. "We need a definition of what it is so everyone knows what we're facing."
In a December meeting before legislators, Moats said he thought the abuse and neglect statute needed to be changed. Although truancy would not approach the level of physical harm, Moats argued it would constitute mental harm because it deprives kids of the constitutional right to education.
Delegate Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, said creating a uniform definition could become more troublesome than it sounds.
"There has been some serious heartburn about equaling truancy with abuse and neglect, like comparing it with physical abuse or not providing food or shelter," Armstead said. "Is there a solution that doesn't get it to the level of abuse and neglect but takes a more serious stance than has been taken in the past?"
Johnson said he thinks truancy rises to the level of child abuse because of the impact it could have on the child's future.
"Children who do not learn to read or learn how to do basic math are ruined more than others," he said. "They try to get a job and they are handicapped more by not knowing how to read as they would otherwise."
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