This perhaps belongs in "Judiciary" because ultimately it was a judge who sentenced this girl to jail. But it was school attendance policy that put her there.
She's an honor student. Working two jobs to help support herself and her siblings, while taking college level courses in high school. Honor students are getting As and Bs. That means they're learning the material. In a sane world, at that point, attendance should become a secondary concern, if not irrelevant altogether, right? Logging hours for the sake of logging hours does nothing for no one. Schools exist for the benefit of students, period. This student was apparently benefiting mightily, and had a system worked out whereby she could fulfill all her commitments, including school.
Why the hell isn't that good enough?
Diane Tran, Honor Student At Texas High School, Jailed For Missing School
Diane Tran, a 17-year-old honor student in Texas, was forced to spend the night in jail last week after missing too many classes, KHOU-11's Sherry Williams reports.
The Willis High School junior, who helps support two siblings, has both a full time and part-time job. She said that she's often too tired to go to school.
"She goes from job to job from school," Devin Hill, one of Tran's classmates, told KHOU-11. "She stays up until 7:00 in the morning doing her homework."
In an interview with KHOU-11, Tran said she takes AP Spanish, college level algebra and dual credit English and history courses. Her parents divorced and no longer live near her, so she lives with the family that owns the wedding venue where she works on weekends.
According to Texas law, if a student has ten or more unexcused absences within a six-month period, the school district may refer the student to a juvenile court. "In such cases, resolution of the issue is entirely in the hands of the court," reads a statement on the website of the Willis Independent School District.
After being warned by a judge in April about missing too much school, Tran was arrested in court on Wednesday and required to spend the night in jail, according to the above video from KHOU-11. She has also been fined $100.
Tran's case has spread online, with dozens of news outlets across the country picking up her story. HelpDianeTran.com, a site set up by the Louisiana Children's Education Alliance in partnership with Anedot and Gatorworks, has raised over $2,000.
A petition at Change.org that calls for the judge to revoke the teen's fine and sentencing was approaching 8,000 signatures on Sunday afternoon.
"This remarkable young woman doesn't deserve jail," wrote a Change.org commenter going by Letitia Gutierrez. "She deserves a medal."
Williams, the KHOU-11 reporter, visited the judge who sent Tran to jail. Watch the video linked @ HuffPo above to hear the judge's reasoning behind the punishment.
We had a similar situation with my oldest boy a few years ago. We had pulled him from school for a couple vacations during the year, and he had a nagging illness that kept him out for several days.
We got a form-letter from the principal, "reminding" us of state attendance laws, and actually saying that any further absences from school would kick a truancy process into gear that may involve the school social worker or social services. It said that any further absences needed to be cleared through her office in advance.
The thing is, the kid was getting straight As, and just days before the letter arrived, he had been recognized as "Student of the Trimester" for the entire school, grades 9-12.
Not only that, but the absences due to illness were because of district policy. I would have given him some tylenol and sent him to school, but district policy is that when a kid has a fever over 99º, they need to stay out of school the NEXT day. He had this nagging virus that had few symptoms other than a low-grade fever. So we were keeping him home because the frikking district wouldn't let us send him to school, and the fever dragged on for days and days. Doctors told us we'd have to just wait it out.
Needless to say, I had an enlightening conversation with the principal. Enlightening for her, not me. I pointed out the absurdity of threatening an honor student who was just named Student of the Trimester with a social worker visit because of absence related to the schools sick policy. I told her that the schools concern should be that the kids are learning, and that one glance at his record demonstrates that he is. I told her that before she sends out a stupid form letter, she should familiarize herself with the student and their performance, and discern whether such a letter needs to be sent at all. I told her that one look at his record should show her that his parents are of a kind who care deeply about academic performance, and who would would not keep him from school for no good reason. I told her that between school policy and our personal reasons for his absences, our concerns were paramount, and that as his parents, we would determine whether an absence was warranted. I told her that if there were further absences in the future, we would not be going through any additional processes, and would simply notify the attendance office as usual. I told her that sending a social worker to my home would be opening a can of worms that did not need to be opened, and that everyone would just be better off if the lid stayed on. I told her to look at his academic record, listen to my words, and trust me that I will not allow his education to fall through the cracks.
She basically listened and spoke very little, and was thanking me by the end, agreeing to everything I said. Never had the issue again.
I tell the story because this story from Texas seems to spring from the same idiocy only on steroids. Schools are NOT substitute parents.
