TOP STORY: Parents of truants face $400 penalties

A Tauranga school is set to prosecute the parents of a 12-year-old girl who has attended class only twice this year _ the first shot in a fresh Bay truancy crackdown.
The Otumoetai Intermediate girl managed just 1-2 days a week most of last year and, if successful, the prosecution of her parents would be the first in the Bay for about three years.
Principal Henk Popping told the Bay of Plenty Times his intention to prosecute the girl's parents would be taken only after every other avenue had been exhausted. His board of trustees would make the final decision.
Mr Popping said if the parents were prosecuted it would send a clear message truancy was not tolerated.
Under the Education Act parents face a fine of $150 for the first offence and up to $400 for any subsequent truancy.
The move coincides with a group of Bay principals about to push for a hard-hitting Western Bay campaign to stamp out truancy and improve attendance, adopting a plan similar to one being used in Rotorua.
Rotorua police have taken a tough approach to chronic truancy and are set to prosecute 10 ``lazy'' parents for failing to make sure their children are at school, after 100 parents were sent letters last year warning them police would prosecute if they did not get them to school.
Gate Pa principal Richard Inder, secretary of the Western Bay Primary Principals' Association, said he and other executive members agreed it was time to adopt a community approach to truancy and lateness.
The Rotorua Truancy Plan involves schools, retailers, police, council and support agencies attacking the problem from all sides. The strategies include sending flyers to retailers detailing uniforms, hours when students should be in school and contact details if they have concerns.
Businesses are encouraged to challenge any child who should be in school and their parents.
Truant round-ups would be conducted randomly.
Mr Inder said that each school day thousands of Bay children failed to turn up to a school and out of his 350 students between 40-50 can be ``missing in action''.
"It's an issue facing every school to a varying degree, so rather than each school or cluster of schools using different approaches, it would seem to be far more effective and productive if we all take a consistent blanket approach, with everyone doing the same things."
Mr Inder said he was involved in discussions with the Education Ministry for extra resources to enable the Western Bay to adopt the Rotorua approach and he planned to organise a meeting of key players, including community leaders, to get their support.
A billboard this week went up at Gate Pa School's front gate that reads ``Attendance equals achievement'' _ an in-your-face strategy to help drive home the message.
Tauranga Moana District Truancy Service chairwoman Leonie Sommerville, who is also Tauranga Girls' College deputy principal, said there was solid evidence that involving the whole community helped improve attendance.
Schools could probably involve Child, Youth and Family more in truancy cases where there were serious underlying problems at home, she said.
Some schools have adopted a reward system for 100 per cent attendance.
At Otumoetai College, principal Dave Randell said his school of 1900 students had adopted an 85 per cent attendance policy. Any student absent for more than 28 days must repeat that school year.
"This year I have nine students, including six Year 12 students, repeating the year they have missed and the policy is definitely effective with our chronic truant numbers dropping significantly, achieving a 93 per cent attendance rate."
Mount Maunganui College principal Terry Collett said he preferred to work with truants' families and his concern was the number of ``recreational'' truants on his 1270 roll _ those who miss one or two periods. This amounted to some 75 pupils a week in 2005.
It lead to the Safe at School programme, where an automatic message is sent home when a student is found bunking class during spot checks.
"It has been a highly effective tool with the numbers having almost dropped by half this year."
Truancy officers are not as keen on prosecution.
Graeme Leigh-McKenzie, a Tauranga truancy officer for 10 years, said the 23 schools he helped had not gone down the prosecution path in the past.
"I'm not convinced doing so is the way to go as there are other initiatives which can often have the desired result _ when you put the heat on some parents often the family just disappears."
Humphrey Brookie, truancy officer for the Mount, said he prosecuted 23 parents about three years ago, but none since.
"We find the better way is to open up a dialogue with the parents and give them more time to work through the problem.
'Prosecutions can be counterproductive, as truancy is only an indication of other serious problems in the family unit, needing the involvement of other agencies to help support them."
Tauranga police Senior Sergeant Ross Bielby said he was unaware if Western Bay police would make similar moves as Rotorua police.
The rollout of the national attendance database will begin in mid-July to all intermediate and secondary schools, followed by primary schools next year.