Overview of Service:

The primary function of the Attendance Officer is to provide leadership to assist students, parents, school personnel and other stakeholders in developing and implementing strategies that improve student attendance rates in public schools. This important service assists school districts in meeting student attendance rate standards established by the Ohio Department of Education.  Student attendance rate standards for all public school systms are listed on the District Report Cards published by the Ohio Department of Education at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/.

The Attendance Officer interacts directly with students and parents when school personnel identify children who have poor attendance.  School administrators are able to give more attention to other areas related to operation of their schools by using the Attendance Officer as a specialist who has the authority to implement corrective action strategies on their behalf.

Students that attend school regularly have a higher achievement and greater overall success in school.  A habitual truant is any child of compulsory school age who is absent without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for five (5) or more consecutive school days, seven (7) or more school days in one school month, or twelve (12) or more school days in a school year.  A chronic truant is any child of compulsory school age who is absent without legitimate excuse from the public school the child is supposed to attend for seven (7) or more consecutive school days, ten (10) or more school days in one school month, or fifteen (15) or more school days in a school year.

The following job functions and strategies are used to assist school communities in efforts to increase school attendance and exceed Ohio Department of Education standards.

• Meet with and counsel students about the benefits of good attendance and the negative results of poor attendance.

• Make home visits to identify circumstances that are causing children to be absent for school.

• Cooperate with parents and school personnel to implement intervention strategies that increase attendance rates.

• Cooperate with school principals to prepare and present truancy cases for review by the Hearing Officer or Juvenile Court.

• Conduct informal hearings with parents, students, school officials as a alternative to being referred to Juvenile Court.

• Act as a liaison between Athens and Meigs County Schools, law enforcement agencies, other service agencies, the Prosecutor’s Office and Juvenile Court in efforts to cause children to attend school.

Please contact Larry Sisson or George Hawley if you would like more information about the programs and services that support good attendance in our schools.