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A True Story

Post and Courier
Article on Attendance Improvement

Truancy Facts

The foundation of every state is the education
of its youth.

—Diogenes Laertius

Attendance improvement helps kids stay in school

South Carolina law dictates that after a student incurs ten unexcused absences from school, he or she is referred to Family Court. While some students will begin attending school regularly after their absences are brought to the attention of the parents and the court, others will continue to miss school and can ultimately be sentenced to the Department of Juvenile Justice and placed in a mixed population with violent offenders.

Our Attendance Improvement Mediation Program helps kids stay in school and out of the juvenile justice system by helping to discover the root causes of truancy. Volunteer mediators work with children, parents and school administrators to reduce or eliminate unlawful school absences and tardies. This highly successful program is provided without charge throughout Richland District 2 and Lexington/Richland District 5 schools. During the 2005 – 2006 school year, we conducted over 350 Attendance Improvement Mediations. 

Developed by Conflict Solutions, LLC, a Columbia-based company specializing in conflict resolution programs for educational settings, the program was launched by.The Community Mediation Center l in the fall of 2001 to address the growing and often unrecognized problem of truancy and its effects.

In Attendance Improvement Mediation, the children, their families and school administrators have the opportunity to address the underlying causes of truancy and to collaborate on approaches to resolve them. Personal attention is available during mediation in a neutral environment allowing students and families to communicate more honestly and craft a plan that fits each student’s particular needs.

School administrators refer children and their families to mediation before state law requires they be referred to Family Court.  Mediation is an attractive alternative to prosecution under state law—saving the schools, the courts, and the public thousands of dollars. 

Funding for the Attendance Improvement Mediation program is provided through grants from the United Way of the Midlands and the South Carolina Department of Education.

For questions about this program, contact our Program Manager Antwanette  Bowers.