Secondary Education - Attendance

[MathFanatic09]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Louisiana

Hi all!
I have a question concerning school attendance and the liability of parents if their child is excessively absent (unexcused) from school. This is a brief overview of my situation:
My brother (in high school, sophomore) became involved with drugs about 2 years ago and subsequently began skipping school. This was unknown to my mom until about a year ago. She has high values for education, and, of course, she strongly condemned it and punished him. However, he has remained active in drug matters and things have only gotten worse (seeing his "habits" coupled with his age, I'm sure many of you will know it's difficult to control teenagers at this age and with these problems). My mom, who's a single parent, really does not know what to do. She leaves for work before my brother wakes up and gets home long after he gets out of school (and I'm off at college). I honestly can see she is wearing down mentally from the stress of this all, but she must work. It seems, as I have suggested to her before, that the only option is to send him to boot camp for a year. If he skips school again or has any run in with the law while he is 16, I was informed my mom faces the potential of going to jail.
So, my question is, can or will my mom be held liable and imprisoned for my brothers actions in a case such as this? It will ruin her, her job, and everything she has worked for. I also would not be able to afford college. We wish there was a juvenile program he could be put in, but I'm not sure if one exists unless he is arrested (he is in probation now for theft, yet more trouble he has gotten in).

 

[GaAtty]

GaAtty

Yes, your mother could get into trouble if he is excessively absent. That is called being truant. It usually happens after 12 or 15 absences, but it depends on where the school is. Different school districts have different numbers of days that they allow. However, when there is a truancy problem, the child as well as the parent have to go in front of the judge. That will be your mom's chance to tell the judge what is really going on. The judge will probably order your brother not to miss any more school without a written doctor's note, and reschedule another hearing in a few months. If he is absent any more without excuse, then the judge can send him to jail. He will also have a person who works at the school who will be checking on him very closely. Usually that is the social worker. Your mother could speed this process up by contacting whomever is the person at the school who deals with truancy and ask them to bring a case just so the judge will give him a talking to. Sometimes it does some good. Your mother is legally responsible for him until he is of legal age, which is probably 18 where you are. Your mom can also go to the juvenile court and ask the court to declare him an "unruly child". The judge will order him to do certain things, like go to school, make certain grades, not be out after a certain hour, not do drugs, etc. Then the judge can also order him to report to the court and undergo a drug test. If he fails the drug test, he can go to juvenile detention. Your mother should probably check into this now. Of course, the easiest thing may be that she tells him to go to school and not to do drugs and take away all fun things, like cell phone, computer, etc. She can get a responsible adult to stay at the house when she is not there. Somehow he has gotten the idea that he doesn't have to do anything that he doesn't want to do, and somehow he has gotten the idea that he doesn't have to mind. If mom can't get that idea out of his head, then the best thing is to go straight to the juvenile court for assistance, before it gets worse.