Truancy Issues for Underage Non-English Speakers

jgthefifth

New Member
Jurisdiction
Florida
I help out in an English as a Second Language class in a public Lee County high school. I've had a few freshman-age immigrants who speak almost entirely Spanish, and are employed, inform me that they will be removed from the school system due to work-related truancy. I do not know the details of their employement. I do not wish to contact families. It's not my place. I need information. Is this truly legal? Is there anything that can be done to reform this? It seems clear that these families require the financial support of their children, and that the situation is work and school, or only work.

Another note: I've encountered immigrant students who had been recently incorporated into the school system be placed in fully English classes, with only their classmates to translate for them. Is there a legal requirement for translators to any degree? We have so few.

Thank you.
 
Is it legal? Not really. The minutm are supposed to be at school and it is the parents responsibility to ensure they do.
If they are removed from school they should be simultaneously enrolled in another program.
Regardless, putting your nose in where it does not belong could result in trouble you don't need.
If anything, you might make an anonymous report to social services that the kids are being denied an education due the the financial need of the family. Perhaps social services could help the family in ways you can't.
 
You're going to have to explain what "freshman-age" really means. Do you mean 14? Any student under the age of 16 is required to attend school. On the labor side, there are separate rules for how much a student can work for 14 and 15 year olds and 16 and 17 year olds.

Florida (and Federal) law requires an appropriate education for non-English speakers. This likely could be a combination of classes in their language and use of interpreters. Details on Florida education law for "English learners" is here: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7587/urlt/0064461-edph1112.pdf

The district you are in should have policies on both of these subjects as well. You should raise your concerns with the school administration and the district.
 
It doesn't sound like you have enough facts to do anything here. It also sounds like you are lumping all immigrants and ELL students into one pot without knowing the circumstances for each. There are truancy laws in every state and violators typically are ordered to attend, not be dropped from the rolls. Fines and even jail time are not uncommon (for parents- kids may or may not be picked up in the Juvenile system). That said, if a student has such poor attendance that they have essentially not been attending at all, a district may drop them as a registered student rather than keep them on the books indefinitely. Many families move or place their children in other schools without formally un-enrolling them in the local school system. You don't know what these families are doing. The number of students pursuing non-traditional paths to education is growing. This may mean distance learning or on-line programs or homeschooling. It is unclear how you are related to any of these cases but it sounds like you are a volunteer or para. As such you aren't entitled to access to the details of their cases. At 16, students can elect to drop out, regardless of grade level.

While translators are necessary as well as ELL classes, the extent to which any given student receives there services or placements is made on an individual basis. No system has the resources to have one on one, all day translators for each child who is not a native speaker. This means the students do spend some time in classes without a translator. *Generally* most districts try to limit the time students spend in academic classes without assistance, but even that is a challenge.
 
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