Until this school year, Lewiston students who were declared truant for a number of days in a year faced possible misdemeanor charges.
But members of the Lewiston School District board of directors adopted a new truancy policy in September. According to Jessica Urich, Nez Perce County Prosecutor, the new policy will require students to attend attendance court.
“Attendance court has been proven to be successful for a long time in Latah County, so the district sent some representatives to spend some time to observe their practices,” said Lewiston superintendent, Dr. Robert Donaldson.
This program will serve as an alternative to the school district immediately pressing charges and criminalizing juveniles.
“It can benefit the student because instead of being charged with a misdemeanor they have the opportunity to go through attendance court,” said LHS assistant principal, Chad Arlint.
“We hope this will help families get the resources they need to get students back on track and in the school community,” said Ulrich.
According to the district’s director of student services, Kimberly Eimers, some resources provided to students in attendance court include community services, mental health monitoring, transportation and housing.
Meetings for attendance court will be held at the district office and with two hearing officers present. The attendance committee will include Eimers as well as Robert Massey, the LHS student resource officer, a juvenile probation officer, the juvenile prosecutor, and the secretary of the school board.
The first hearing Sept. 19 addressed three students’ cases.
The students will be expected to check in with the court once a month, according to Eimers. Once the criteria required is met, and they can be transitioned out of the system.