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Rochester student: 'It's not the parents' fault' kids miss school

By Samantha Allen
Friday, November 30, 2012

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Cassie Miltner

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Article: Rochester truancy fines stir criticism, praise

ROCHESTER — Rochester students at Spaulding High School weighed in with their thoughts on the Rochester Police Department's new policy for truant behavior, which imposes fines on parents of students who miss an excess amount of school.

Junior Shatayah Emerson, 16, said she wasn't sure how she felt about the new policy, since she doesn't miss a lot of school herself. But, she thought a fine could positively pressure more of her peers to attend class.

“I know a lot of kids who skip school for no reason,” Emerson said.

Senior Devin Sobleski, 17, said he sees a lot of students missing class, possibly because they don't feel they're getting anything out of their education. In Sobleski's mind, though, that's a mistake, he said, he doesn't want to see parents held accountable for their children's mistakes.

“I feel that (truancy) shouldn't have anything to do with the parents. It's not the parent's fault. It's all the kid's,” he said. “If the students feel like they don't want to go to school, it's their life they're throwing away.”

The Rochester police's new policy allows violators to opt out of pleading guilty in court to a large fine and instead take a four-week educational course at the police station with their children.

Senior Katie Lagace, 17, said heard a lot of her peers talking about the new “diversion program” at school this week and she thought maybe they were blowing it out of proportion.

“It might sound extreme but I don't think it's as bad as everyone's drumming it up to be,” she said. “ … I don't think (truancy) is like, a humongous issue, but it's big enough that it's affecting certain students.”

Senior Cassie Miltner, 17, said she was recently called to a “truancy meeting” at the high school where dozens of students were told about the new policy and how they could face fines. Miltner said she had mononucleosis, a viral infection, for several weeks this year, and had to miss a lot of school. Even with her doctor's notes, she said, she has been singled out. She feels it isn't fair for students who genuinely need to miss class.

“I feel like it applies to a lot of kids at the school … I definitely think (officials) made (the policy) out to be more than it should be,” she said. “They said they'd get the police involved and we'd have to go to court. They're definitely making a bigger deal of it than they should … A lot of kids don't really care that much, but there are a lot of kids who really do try to go to school. So, I think it's half and half, basically.”

Junior Jenny Diamond, 16, said she had mixed feelings on the subject because she doesn't miss a lot of school.

“It is a problem. A lot of the kids are always absent,” Diamond said. “ … I feel like a (fine) would scare people and make them angry, maybe. I've been hearing a lot of kids complaining about it already.”

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Shatayah Emerson

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Devin Sobleski

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Katie Lagace