Student truancy, especially in the lower grades, is still a problem in Winn Parish but a joint effort between principals, the District Attorney and District Judge is beginning to show a positive change, the School Board heard in committee session November 25.

“This is a problem we take seriously,” said Supt. Al Simmons.  “If a child is not in school, we cannot teach him.”  Joe Llaine Long indicated that when a child misses out on learning opportunities in the earliest grades, that student may not be able to make it up by fourth grade and may tend to “fall through the cracks” of the system.

Lance Underwood asked with concern if Winn is making headway on the problem of truancy.  Winn Primary School Principal James King responded that his office tracks absentees and contacts the District Attorney’s Office when problems appear.  “Letters go out to the parents and they realize that it’s for real.”  He explained that the FINS officer in the District Judge’s Office is processing these referrals.

Previous information on this program showed that the legal notification through the DA’s office, with consequences before the district judge, do not target the children but the parents or guardians who are supposed to have those children in school.

Harry Scott also voiced his concern, expressing his unease of seeing young children out of school on school days, with him being unable to tell if they are home-schooled or just missing classes altogether.

“I think we’re seeing improvement,” said Simmons.  “It will take time but I think the attendance numbers will go up.  We don’t have the authority to go out and cast a net to bring them in.”

Underwood stressed that the board will stand in support of the school leaders in reporting cases of truancy to the legal authorities.

In other action, the superintendent advised board members to remain tuned in to tax issues within constitutional amendment proposals that grew out of the just-ended special legislative session.  Those issues would affect funding for school systems if the amendments are approved on the spring ballot.

But exactly what that impact would be is yet unclear.  Simmons explained that “there’s a lot of information but at the moment there are more questions than answers.  It appears that while state income tax would be lower, state sales tax would be higher.  It would not affect our local rates.”  He added that it is unsure if the changes would be wrapped in one all-inclusive amendment or broken into several as they affect various topics of taxation.