For the 2012-2013 school year Judge Bruce MacTavish, Jackson Superior Court 2, instituted an attendance program for Jackson County’s Public Schools. The program was run in cooperation with the Jackson County Prosecutor, AmyMarie Travis, and Jackson County Juvenile Probation.
The purpose of this program is to improve attendance at all Jackson County public schools by engaging youth and their parents, providing community based services, and, when necessary, utilizing the coercive intervention of the court system. The program was implemented by using the existing resources in Jackson County.
During the school year 2012-2013, all of the county’s public schools participated in the Jackson County Attendance Program. This program was handled through juvenile cases filed in Jackson Superior Court 2, Jackson County’s Juvenile Court.
For the 2012-2013 school year, 144 warning letters were sent. Of those, 41 cases were filed, and 20 were for high school students, 14 were for middle school students, and 7 were for elementary students. Four cases were dismissed, there were 36 adjudications of delinquency, and one case is still pending.
A total of two high school students were detained in Juvenile Detention for failing to attend school. One parent was sanctioned for Contempt of Court and spent two days in jail.
The program will continue to be in place for the 2013-2014 school year.
