Evicting the Family When a Child Skips School?
Omaha, Neb. considers a radical new policy.
May 13, 2010— -- Skipping school could get a lot riskier next year for some students in Omaha, Neb.
Under a complicated plan aimed at reducing truancy among its residents, the Omaha Housing Authority could, in a worst-case scenario, evict a family whose child chronically failed to attend school.
Between 2005 and 2007, the graduation rate of Omaha public schools dropped from 62 to 55 percent. And with 60 percent of students in those schools considered "economically disadvantaged," according to the Chief State School Officers in Omaha, officials searched for a creative solution to combat the problem.
"We came to the conclusion that we are the biggest provider of housing for low-income students," said George Achola, legal counsel for OHA. "We are one of a few agencies that have the capability to affect the lives of our residents 365 days a year."
OHA houses nearly 3,000 families in the city and there are 1,300 school-age residents who would be affected by this plan, which is still being written by officials at the Housing Authority.
Currently in Omaha, after a student misses 20 days of the school district's 172-day school year, Nebraska state law requires administrators to report the student to the county attorney.
Dave Patton, director of Omaha Public Schools said truancy has been on everyone's minds lately, because the frequency of these referrals has swelled into a substantial problem in just one year.
In Douglas County -- where Omaha is the county seat -- 640 students have been referred to the county juvenile court this year. While they represent only a small proportion of the 48,000 students in the system, the number has risen substantially, from 239 in the 2008-09 school year. Achola said he hopes OHA and OPS will together do a better job of making sure the referral rate goes down next year.
"The major agencies in Omaha -- us and OPS -- both have information that we, up to this point, haven't shared with each other," Achola said. "If we talked to each other, we'd be more powerful and find a way to break down the problem of truancy."
