HOUSTON, Texas – The Texas Education Agency is reviewing truancy data submitted by school districts over the last four years. The review was prompted by questions from the KPRC 2 Investigates team about truancy prevention efforts in Texas.
A KPRC 2 analysis of truancy data submitted to the TEA shows approximately 1 million children were reported truant every year for the 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years.
In Texas, a student is truant if they have 10 or more unexcused absences in six months. The Texas Education Code also requires school districts to adopt and use truancy prevention measures to try to get kids back into class.
Texas law also requires school districts to notify parents if a child has three or more unexcused absences in one month. According to TEA, data released under the Texas Public Information Act, 13-14 percent of districts reported zero truancy prevention efforts in the last four school years.
The data also shows between 60-64 percent of districts reporting more truancies than truancy prevention each year. The Texas Education Code also allows for truancy complaints to be filed against parents who are found to be contributing to their child’s non-attendance.
According to TEA data, between 48-52 percent of school districts reported filing zero truancy complaints during the last four school years.
The TEA is charged with ensuring school districts follow the law. When KPRC 2 Investigates sent this analysis to the TEA, we were told, “TEA’s Self-Reported Data Unit (SRDU) is initiating a comprehensive analysis and review of the data.”
School districts self-report this data to the TEA. Agency officials will now determine if the questions raised by KPRC 2 involve problems of record keeping by school districts or non-compliance with the law.
“We’ve let truancy, this problem explode," said State Sen. Paul Bettencourt/(R) Dist. 7. “We’ve got to get the emphasis back on doing something about truancy instead of ignoring it."
Bettencourt filed SB 570 this session to “restart the civil truancy process.” This is the second time Bettencourt has filed a bill to address truancy in Texas.
“The first thing you have to do is engage, and if you’re not filing any preventions at all that means you’re doing nothing for these children and that’s unacceptable," said Bettencourt.
Dr. Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk, said outreach is key since children miss class for a range of reasons.
“You can’t just say it’s up to the kids and it’s up to the parents because, yes, they have the bulk of the responsibility, but the school district needs to put forward a little effort with these kids that are going to be much more likely to be absent,” said Sanborn. “I think at worst you have districts that maybe don’t care about reporting this data and maybe aren’t doing a good job. But what you really want to see is them taking this seriously and saying we’re doing everything possible to get out there and get these kids back.”
Mike Matranga is a retired US Secret Service Agent and former head of safety and security for Texas City ISD, he is now the vice chair for the National Council for School Safety Directors.
“Why is that child’s truant? Is it socioeconomic? Do they not have transportation? Are they being neglected at home? Is there a bullying issue that’s happening at school that’s preventing them from coming there? Those are all things that have been attributed to violence on campuses throughout the nation,” said Matranga. “No one’s taking that data and breaking it down and analyzing it to identify students that are in crisis through things that we know are known factors like truancy, like academic decline, like discipline increase.”
