Yes, truancy needs to be dealt with and if a parent is not seeing to it that their child is attending school and has been notified of that, then the parent and child end up in front of a judge.
In Minnesota:
IF YOU ARE PETITIONED INTO COURT AND DETERMINED TO BE A HABITUAL TRUANT, CONTINUED TRUANCY MAY RESULT IN ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONSEQUENCES:
1. School detention, in-school suspension or Saturday school.
2. Supervision by a County Probation Officer or Social Worker.
3. Community service hours or work crew hours.
4. Participate in individual or family counseling, or complete a psychological or chemical health evaluation.
5. Participation in a group or in a series of educational programs through your school or community.
6. Parent court ordered to attend school with you.
7. Fined up to $100 or parent held liable for prosecution for your truancy with a penalty of up to 90 days in county jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine.
8. Driver’s license suspended or delayed until you are 18 years of age.
9. Home detention. (Home detention means that you cannot leave your house without a parent, except to go to school or work.) If you are put on home detention, someone will be monitoring your whereabouts.
10. Placed in a shelter or correctional facility. Your parents will be responsible for the costs involved according to their ability to pay.
In Wisconsin:
Under previous Wisconsin law a municipality could enact an ordinance prohibiting habitual
truancy and providing one or more dispositions to a municipal or juvenile court. These dispositions included suspension of a driver’s license, counseling or a supervised work program, home detention, a teen court program, revocation of a work permit or an order to attend an educational program. Act 239 creates additional dispositions including:
� An order to attend school.
� Forfeiture of not more than $500 plus costs to be assessed against the pupil
or parent or guardian, or both.
� Any other reasonable conditions including curfew, restrictions on the use of specified premises or restrictions on associations.
� An order placing the pupil under formal or informal supervision for up to one year.
� An order for a pupil’s parent or guardian to participate in counseling at his or her own expense or to attend school with the pupil, or both.
In Pennsylvania:
IF A JUDGE FINDS A CHILD TRUANT, WHAT CAN THE JUDGE DO
TO THE PARENTS AND THE CHILD?
The judge can order a variety of penalties if the judge finds that the child is truant. The parent can be found guilty of a summary offense and fined up to $300 for each truancy violation. Or, the judge could require the parent to complete a “parenting education program.” The judge can also decide that instead of, or in addition to, the fine or education program, the parent must perform community service in the school district where the child lives for up to six months.
If the parent fails to comply with the court order, they can be sentenced to serve up to five (5) days in a county jail. However, if the parents haven’t paid the fine that the court has ordered, they can only be sent to jail after a hearing is held to determine whether they had the financial ability to pay the fine.
Depending upon the child’s age, the judge can fine the child up to $300 for each truancy violation, if the parents can show they tried to get the child to go to school. Or, the judge can assign the child to an “adjudication alternative program” (such as an education program or community service).
A child who is found to be truant can also have his or her driver’s license suspended for 90 days if it is the child’s first truancy conviction. The child’s driver’s license will be suspended for six (6) months for any additional truancy conviction. If the child does not have a driver’s license, the chance to apply for one will be suspended for 90 days for the first truancy offense, and six (6) months for additional offenses.
A couple of other interesting articles:
http://www.wycokck.org/dept.aspx?id=222&menu_id=946&ekmensel=946_submenu_1152_link_7
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2005/03/12/parent_jailed_for_childs_truancy/9788/