The new welfare law does not help children or parents

The pandemic has turned things upside down. Our economy. The workplace. And certainly our kids, especially when it comes to going to school. Before COVID, about 13% of Iowa kids missed 10% of the school year. During the 2022-2023 school year, it was 23%. With a mission to keep kids in school, the state of Iowa has stepped in.

This year, all Iowa school districts have new truancy laws in place. If you’re a parent, you’ve probably already heard about them. We were told about them during an open house held at Marion High School this summer. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the new law states that if a student misses 10 percent or more days in a grading period, the school will send a certified letter to the parents and also to the county attorney. No legal action will be taken. If a student misses 15 percent or more days, the law requires the student and family to attend a meeting with school officials to establish a plan to prevent further absences, according to the Gazette.

If a student is absent 20 percent or more of the days, the county attorney is notified again and will decide whether to take action. The Gazette reports that it could result in a simple misdemeanor charge. The family would then participate in the Truancy Deferred Prosecution Program that was started in 2019. That program has resulted in nearly 80 percent of truancy cases in Linn County being dismissed.

As a parent of two high school students, I understand that as the year progresses, it can be difficult to get them to want to go to school every day. But my job as a parent is to communicate that to them and to enforce punishments when necessary. What disappoints me most about the new law is that there is no difference between excused and unexcused absences. Children miss school for a variety of reasons: illness, mental health issues, avoiding bullying, lack of transportation, to name just a few. Are these reasons no longer enough? Are parents not allowed to work with the school and teachers to find a path forward that is best for the child?

Clearly I’m not the only one who has issues with the new law. KCRG asked parents to take to Facebook and, as you can see from the post above, many have done so.

I don’t think threatening legal action is the best way to get parents to make sure their children attend school. The state of Iowa never asks me to help run the state. I wish they would stop trying to help me with decisions that affect my family.

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