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Truancy Click links below to obtain the form you want. Truancy 5-10 day referral form Chronic Truancy referral form General Truancy Information If you would like to report a truant child, please call the Regional Office at 217.872.3721. If you have received a truancy letter and you disagree with the truant absences, please contact your child’s school to discuss your child’s absences. The schools report truancies to the Regional Office. Section 3-13 of the Illinois school Code gives the Regional Superintendent of Schools the authority to appoint a County Truant Officer. The Regional Office of Education assists local school districts with their truancy problems. A truant is defined as a child subject to compulsory school attendance and who is absent without valid cause. A truant absence is defined as an absence from school without a valid excuse. If a student is absent from school, the parent is supposed to telephone the school each day the child is absent. The reason a student is absent may be valid but the parent or guardian must contact the school by phone that day or send a note with the child upon returning to school (caution: make sure the note is taken to the attendance secretary. If it is not turned in, the absence will be unexcused.). In 2001, the Regional Office of Education and Project Success developed the Right Track Truancy Prevention Program (in Decatur only) with Mound Middle School as the pilot. Today, all middle schools and many elementary schools are included in the program with a goal of all elementary schools belonging in the near future. The Right Track Program uses a collaborative approach in seeking to remedy chronic truancy among elementary and middle school students by focusing on family-wide support services and parental accountability. The Macon County Sheriff’s Department and the Decatur Police assist with home visits. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month October through June for families of truant children with 5-9 truancies. The third Thursday of each month October through May are for families with 10-17 truant absences. The Right Track Truancy Reduction Program has been very successful in all schools and will continue to be. If a student’s truancy absences reach 18 in a calendar year, the school can request the truancies to be reported to the State’s Attorney of the county for prosecution.
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