After much discussion, the Box Butte County Commissioners voiced their disapproval of using the county’s Slagle Building for virtual learning for Alliance Public Schools students who are at risk of truancy.
Box Butte County Attorney Terry Curtiss had come up with the idea to use part of the building to house APS students whose parents had opted for the online learning option rather than attend school in person as a way to help him handle his truancy cases.
Curtiss had also attended the last APS School Board meeting to discuss the option with school board members before discussing the matter a second time with the commissioners on Monday.
“Dr. Unzicker would like to utilize the facility as they continue virtual learning,” Curtiss said. “From the standpoint of my truancy enforcement efforts, I would like to see them have the ability to eliminate what I would easily call excuses for pretend virtual learning that’s going on now.”
According to Curtiss, there are at least six students per school using the Zoom option for school that are not meeting attendance requirements.
Commissioner Doug Hashman asked how using the county’s facility would help students using the online schooling option.
“How is this going to help them? Are you going to go down there and teach them?” Hashman asked.
Curtiss said having students attend with a paraeducator present would help avoid some issues online learners might face, such as internet connection issues and trouble accessing assignments.
Curtiss said the county would only have to provide utilities such as electric and plumbing for bathrooms and power. The school would provide tables, computer equipment needed and paraeducators to monitor students in the facility.
“I believe they would be able to monitor things so they don’t create a disturbance or cause problems in the building,” Curtiss said.
Commissioner Susan Lore asked how virtual learning relates to truancy. Curtiss responded that virtual learning relates to truancy if a student is not logging in, doing an assignment or participating in the online classroom when they should.
“I’m going to be able to monitor whether they’re there or if they are going to claim that ‘I couldn’t get on,” Curtiss said. “I didn’t get the assignment. I didn’t get this. I didn’t get that.’ That’s going to be the eliminator of what I would call made up excuses.”
Lore clarified it is the school’s duty to report truancy cases to the county attorney’s office.
“The school does not enforce compulsory education,” Curtiss said. “The county attorney does. That’s part of my job. That’s what I expressed to a number of students, that they can either go to school or deal with me in juvenile court. Some have actually gotten the message. Some haven’t.”
Curtiss said using the Slagle Building would make it easier to address truancy cases and make it more likely for students to be in school. Hashman asked if the school had accountability for students in place.
“Don’t the school system have that in place now that they can verify they have their assignment? I mean there’s got to be some accountability there now,” Hashman said. It’s the school’s responsibility to provide a center for access or whatever it is. I’m sure the superintendent would be glad to have somebody else in the building not on his tax roll. They have plenty of taxes collected to provide facilities for these kids, and I think that by bringing a quarantined student into our facility, so that you can see that they are doing their school work. We might as well just get to the problem and take the parents to court and get it over with.”
Curtiss agreed it is the school’s responsibility, but said he does not know if they have a facility available for online learning.
“I can make the requirement that they wear a mask and I will do that,” Curtiss said. “I don’t know if the school board has the will to do that. I don’t want to get into the politics of it. I don’t want to get into the middle of it. I just want them in school. If that means that I stick them in the Slagle to get them in school, I’m all for it.”
Curtiss noted that there are issues that hinder prosecuting truancy in online-learning situations.
“Prosecuting virtual learners by choice is pretty much the same thing as trying to prosecute homeschooling,” Curtiss said. “If a parent has made the decision they don’t care about their kid going to school, there’s not much I can do. Talk about tax dollars, you know, the bottom line is, that aspect of things, long term, has a much greater impact on taxes than what the cost of the utilities in the basement of the Slagle, or cleaning it with staff day to day, for everybody. I can’t fix the problem. In truancy, everyone gets handled with a hammer because that’s all I’ve got.”
Curtiss said he wanted to also be able to help school staff, who are trying to teach in the classroom and online simultaneously.
“I view this as a move that helps me enforce truancy and may help staff do their presentation because they don’t have to worry about if the kid is there or not,” Curtiss said.
Hashman asked if having quarantined students use the building would be a liability issue for the county.
“I guess part of the reason I am saying they have to be in a mask is that we’ve met the standard of care as articulated by Panhandle Public Health and the CDC. So, I don’t see it as a liability issue,” Curtiss said. “I see what the school is doing as a liability issue, but not the other way around.”
Hashman asked why the students can’t go to school classrooms for Zoom learning.
“You can do that at home can’t you? Why do you have to have them in your building to do that?” Hashman asked.
“With that arrangement then I am more comfortable taking the position that either the child is willfully refusing to attend school, which is basis for juvenile court proceeding to deal with that, or that the parent isn’t making the child do what they are supposed to do to be entitled to virtually learn, and I act with respect to misdemeanor prosecution of the parent. It’s A or B,” Curtiss said.
Commissioner Mike McGiniss said he spoke with School Board President Tim Kollars, who indicated that the school had room if they wanted to move forward with such an arrangement.
“I’m not in favor of it,” McGiniss said. “You wanted my opinion, so I’m giving it to you.”
Curtiss said he would speak at the next school board meeting to talk to school board members about how enforcing truancy among students who chose virtual learning would have to be on the school’s facilities since the commissioners would not allow the Slagle building to be used.