A Berks County woman who was ordered to serve a two-day prison term because she failed to pay $2,000 for truancy fines died from medical causes during her incarceration. Her death became the rallying point for a bipartisan legislative effort to stop jail terms for these offensives.

We find this kind of punishment for this kind of offense as cruel and unusual, and we are pleased that our legislators and governor have done something about it.Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill - known as "Eileen's Law" - into law in November. It was named for Eileen DiNino, a widowed mother of seven. Her case prompted Republican and Democratic legislators from Berks and Montgomery counties to join forces to craft a bill that would put state truancy policy into the domain of the schools rather than the courts.Democratic state Sen. Judy Schwank said the bill gives authority to administrators and teachers who know their students best. "This," she said, "is the right way to address truancy." We couldn't agree more.The state Department of Education defines truancy as any unexcused absence from school. The law provides that every principal or teacher must report to the superintendent of schools, the attendance officer or the school board secretary any child who has had three unexcused absences during a school year. A parent can be found guilty of a summary offense and with it a $300 fine for each violation. The judge has leeway on how to impose sentence. He or she can require parents to complete a parenting education program or order the parents to perform community service in the school district where the child lives for up to six months.One of the little-known provisions of the truancy law is that a student found to be truant can lose his or her driver's license for 90 days for the first violation and an additional six months for subsequent convictions. If the student does not have a driver's license, the chance to apply for one will be suspended for 90 days for the first offense and six months for each additional offense.Republican State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf said the truancy law was in "dire need of revisions." Now, he said, the new law will shift the attention to improving attendance and solving a student's problems. "The former law has resulted in the tragic death of a jailed mother, an inexcusable failure of justice," Greenleaf said. Schwank said the legislation won't bring DiNino back, but, "hopefully, it will prevent any other family from experiencing the same pain."Under provisions of the legislation, schools would be compelled to act on cases as soon as a child becomes truant. Parents or guardians would be notified, and schools would offer help on the first case of truancy. If the truancy recurs, schools would be required to meet with parents to look into the availability of services before they could turn over a case to the courts.Locally, the Panther Valley School District has been working to reduce truancy, which has been an issue for the past several years. Superintendent Dennis Kergick said earlier this year that the district sends notifications to parents about excessive absences. He said that in rare instances, the district does bring parents to court to deal with out-of-control truancy, although he agrees that no one likes to do so, and, among other outcomes, it can result in adversarial relationships between families and the school.Education experts insist there is a direct link between attendance and achievement. This makes sense to us, because if children are not in school it is unlikely that they can learn effectively.We've been looking at some of the major causes of truancy, and they are disturbing. They include:• Bad influences - in some schools it is considered "cool" to skip classes.• See no point to school - kids would rather be hanging out with their friends than attending classes, which they believe have no relevance in their lives.• Poor relationships at school - it could be teachers, bullies or anyone who won't get off their case.• Personal issues - it could be problems at home or elsewhere, or they may have a problem coping with special needs.• Collusion on the part of parents - Parents will sometime allow students to take an unauthorized holiday or merely take a day off because they are tired or simply don't want to go to school.We hope the new law brings about much-needed reforms.By Bruce Frassinelli |

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