Truancy Bill Stalls In Legislative Session

By Gordon HopkinsA bill intended to change state truancy laws has stalled in the legislature after failing to garner enough votes to end a filibuster.Legislative Bill (LB) 568 was introduced at the last session by Senator Patty Pansing Brooks, District 28, and would have changed provisions relating to truancy, juvenile courts, the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program, the Commission Grant Program, and compulsory education.Last year, Jefferson County Commissioners and County Attorney Joseph Casson expressed concern that the changes would complicate the job of keeping kids in school. Casson spoke at a meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, and said, if the bill passes as presented, “We will no longer have court as a means of enforcing school attendance.”The bill's statement of intent indicates, “LB568 reduces the risk of a juvenile coming into contact with the juvenile justice system unnecessarily. It removes truancy as a juvenile status offense under court jurisdiction. The court may continue to address excessive absenteeism from school as part of disposition hearings.”To address those concerns, Senator Pansing Brooks offered an amendment that would require county attorneys exhaust all diversion options before relying on the juvenile justice system, while maintaining excessive absenteeism as a status offense.Jefferson County offers both Diversion and Attendance Support programs. Diversion is a program that offers a one-time chance for a person charged with certain crimes to avoid having a criminal conviction on their record. The Director of Diversion is Peggy Galloway. The Attendance Support program is intended to address excessive absences. If a student has a certain number of absences, that child is reported to Attendance Support, which contacts the child, parents or guardian, and attempts to correct the behavior. The Director of Jefferson County is Heather Watson.Students who continue to fail to appear for school may be referred to court but the Attendance Support attempts to avoid that whenever possible.Previously opposed to the bill, the Nebraska County Attorneys Association supported LB568 with the new amendment.Despite the change, a cloture motion that would have moved the bill forward failed.Some local officials are relieved at the bill's failure. At a meeting of the Jefferson County Commissioners on Tuesday, February 8, Commissioner Gale Pohlmann said, “It's probably a good thing it didn't pass.”

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