Governor signs bill decriminalizing truancy
Lawsuit alleging racial disparities in charges brought against Fort Bend ISD to continue
As Texas moves ahead on truancy reform, the Fort Bend school district is still undergoing a review of policies in the district that helped spur sweeping statewide changes
Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday signed into law a bill decriminalizing truancy. Previously, parents and students who had either 10 unexcused or partial absences in six months or three unexcused absences in four weeks could face criminal charges and fines up to $500 plus court costs
The move to downgrade the charge to a civil offense was cosponsored by Missouri City Rep. Ron Reynolds and comes just a few years after Reynolds helped create a special truancy court in Fort Bend County. That court is now under legal attack in a district that has earned a reputation, not only for its high volume of students charged with truancy, but also racial disparities within those charges.
Lawsuit looms
“We’re encouraged that Texas law is being modified to help prevent future abuse; however, the lawsuit deals with both Fort Bend ISD and Fort Bend County officials intentionally and blatantly acting outside of existing Texas law under the guise of enforcing Texas law,” according to a statement Friday from the four lawyers suing county and district officials.
Amid the lawsuit and the state’s actions on truancy, the district halted all new truancy charges. Some 600 cases had already been referred to the district attorney’s office at the time. For the fall of 2014, African American students made up nearly half of all truancy complaints, despite making up 30 percent of the student body, according to district data. Hispanic students were also slightly overrepresented while white and Asian students were underrepresented. ‘No one is above the law’
The district said it would turn to the community for feedback and organized two meetings in May to gather testimony. It expected the review to take only a few weeks, but that timeline has dragged on as the legislature addressed truancy issues and the lawsuit against district of county officials progressed. Now the district said it’s gathering additional feedback via online surveys open through June 30.
According to a district spokes- person, the new state law, effective Sept. 1, will be taken into consideration as the district seeks to reform its truancy policies for the upcoming school year. Meanwhile, the lawsuit, which alleges that the truancy court was illegally established from the beginning, continues to go through the typical pretrial motions.
“We will continue to seek prospective relief through the judicial system to prevent such unlawful acts by Fort Bend ISD and Fort Bend County officials,” said Deron Harrington, one of four attorneys behind the lawsuit. “No one is above the law including governmental officials.”