Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — Kylie Jackson missed school Monday to support a change in Nebraska's truancy law.
The sixth-grader at Omaha's Pawnee Elementary School told state lawmakers that she should be considered absent, not truant, for participating in her state government.
Kylie joined several parents and children arguing for Nebraska to reinstate a distinction between the two.
Current law erased the distinction by focusing on "excessive absenteeism" instead of truancy.
Schools now must report each student who racks up more than 20 absences, regardless of the reason, to the county attorney.
Kylie was reported last year when illnesses, bullying and family trips put her at more than 21 days absent, even though she earned all A's and B's.
The county attorney is monitoring her absences this year.
"That put me under the impression I did something terribly wrong," she said. "I'm not going to have a horrible life when I grow up because I was occasionally absent from school."
But State Education Commissioner Roger Breed urged members of the Judiciary Committee not to change the state law.
Nebraska has problems with school attendance, he said, and test scores show that missing school does affect academic performance.
"It is excessive absenteeism that is the problem," he said.
Breed said the changes passed in 2010 and 2011 to crack down on absenteeism are starting to show results. Students missed fewer days of school during the 2010-11 school year, after the law took effect, than during the school year before.
The commissioner opposed all three truancy proposals introduced this year.
The Nebraska County Attorneys Association and the Douglas and Sarpy County school superintendents took neutral positions on all three bills.
Most of the other speakers on Monday backed Legislative Bill 1165, introduced by State Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln.
The measure would return to a more traditional definition of truancy, meaning unexcused absences.
It would require schools to take action if a student accumulated five unexcused absences in a quarter or 10 in a school year. That action could include a referral to the county attorney.
Fulton said the measure would maintain a focus on truancy, while respecting the role of parents and allowing districts to tailor their policies to their students' needs.
The two other bills would soften the current law but not make major changes to it.
LB 933, introduced by Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, would require schools and county attorneys to jointly review each student with more than 20 absences, rather than leaving the job solely to the county attorneys.
If they decide action is needed, Ashford said, it should start with a meeting between school officials, the county attorney and parents at the school.
"We want to get this right," he said. "We want our children to be in school."
LB 917, introduced by Sen. Abbie Cornett of Bellevue, would not count absences resulting from documented illness or related to the deployment of a military parent toward the 20-day mark.
Cornett said the current law scares parents, who fear they will get in legal trouble for keeping children home when they are sick.
Brenda Vosik, an Omaha mother, said she is among those parents.
"Many parents, including me, are now sending their children to school ... against their better judgment, against the advice of their family doctors and contrary to the pleadings of school nurses," she said.
She told of a case in which a school nurse refused to send home a girl with lice because she had already missed several days because of illnesses.
Kevin Riley, superintendent of Gretna Public Schools, said mistakes have been made in implementing the new law. But he praised the law for forcing school officials and county attorneys to work together.
He said mandatory school attendance is necessary so that students become educated citizens.
"We need it in order for our democracy to continue," he said.
The Judiciary Committee took no immediate action on the bills.
Contact the writer: 402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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