Tulsa Co. truancy enforcement credited with lowering drop outs and burglariess

Some Tulsa County parents spent Monday afternoon in District Court, charged with failing to keep their children in school. Truancy cases weren't prosecuted here until 1989, when Tulsa County started

Tuesday, November 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Some Tulsa County parents spent Monday afternoon in District Court, charged with failing to keep their children in school. Truancy cases weren't prosecuted here until 1989, when Tulsa County started a program credited with lowering drop out and burglary rates.

Oklahoma's Compulsory Education Law requires all children ages five through 18 who haven't completed four years of high school to attend school daily. Since 1989, Tulsa County parents who violate that statute end up in court, answering for their child's excessive absence. "That's something we can't tolerate, not as a DA's office, but as a society,â€ said Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Paul Wilkening. â€œWhat's going to happen to these kids if they're not learning? I'm going to see them on a felony docket," he said.

Martha Guttierrez says she's tried to make her 15-year-old go to school. "He just doesn't go,â€ said Guttierrez. â€œHe goes to Central High School. I take him there, and he beats me home." In her third appearance on the truancy docket, Guttierrez is seeking juvenile court authority to force her son's school attendance.

In first time cases, parents are given the option of pleading guilty, then presented with a contract offering options for getting the child back into an education setting. "It can be anything from parenting classes for them to alternative settings for the children,â€ said Tulsa Public Schools spokesperson Cam McKenzie. Or getting the children back in regular school, and attending 80 percent of the time."

Wilkening says while there are some defenses for truancy, most cases result from parental loss of control. "For some reason, there's an option these days,â€ he said. â€œThe kids run the house, and the parents aren't being parents in most cases."

The county credits the truancy enforcement program with helping lower the burglary rate, and reducing drop-outs by 43 percent its first four years. However, Wilkening says its main goal is to teach children that school equals future, and without it, not much future at all.

If parents don't comply, they face fines ranging from $25 to $100 for every school day missed. School officials say in 90 percent of the cases, students do return to some type of school setting.