State Representative John Cavaletto says a house bill being introduced that should alleviate problems with truancy. Cavaletto sponsored a bill last year that was signed into law that redefines a chronic truant as a student who has just nine days of unexcused absences a year rather than 18. However the law failed to make the change in the Juvenile Court Act.
House Bill 306 is hoping to take care of the problem. Cavaletto's hope is to bring chronically truant students to the attention of districts, and regional offices, when they might still have an opportunity to keep them on track. "We wanted to develop it, to coincide with the Juvenile code. So we want to amend the Juvenile code to make sure that both are the same, the state of Illinois and the Juvenile code both to nine-days of truancy. So then the courts can handle the situation also. This is only about catching kids early in their truancy, and trying to save them. I've talked to the people in the juvenile system who agreed with the bill, and they want to coincide with the state of Illinois law, and that's what we're going to do", said Cavaletto.
The Regional Offices of Education suggested this change for consistency purposes. During debate on the bill, representatives from the City of Chicago questioned the legislation as "a reason to send kids to jail." Cavaletto said the purpose of the legislation is to catch kids early in their truancy and trying to save them from future problems. The bill now moves on to the Senate for their consideration. full story
