ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The community’s Truancy Program continues to help many young people throughout the community, and Tuesday evening, the Liberal City Commission got to hear an update on recent happenings.
“I would like to start out by saying how grateful we are and how appreciative I am for the city’s continued generous support and commitment to addressing the issue of truancy through funding this program for our students’ success,” Youth Empowerment Director Candi Archuleta said. “That investment in this critical work is making a very meaningful difference in the lives of students who are most at risk of falling through the cracks. Thanks to the city’s support, we have been able to implement targeted strategies that help re-engage truant students, connect them to academic resources, and providing the mentorship needed to help them stay in school and succeed. Your belief in our mission empowers and builds a path of hope and opportunity for the young people who face significant challenges in their educational journey and at home. This partnership represents more than financial assistance, it’s a shared vision for a future where every student has the chance to thrive regardless of their past academic or home circumstances. We are deeply grateful for the city’s trust and commitment to helping us turn this vision into a reality.”
Truancy officer Luis Martinez then talked about his role with the program and how the program works.
“In the state of Kansas, if a student misses three days in a row, they are considered truant. If a student misses five days in a semester, they are considered truant,” Martinez said. “If a student misses seven days in a year, they are considered truant. When a student becomes truant, the school would get in touch with the parents and inform them their child is close to becoming considered truant. That serves as a warning for the parent(s) if the student doesn’t get it together and start going to school as legally required, they could be turned over to the Truancy program, and we would have to offer that option. Otherwise, there would be a filing with the county attorney, and the student would be turned over to informal supervision. Before any of that takes place, however, we try to get in tough with the parents to see if they can’t make some changes and encourage their child to go to school and not get in trouble with the authorities, and that’s what we call prevention. Prevention is when we go into town with a list of students we’ve received from the school(s), knock on their door and visit with everyone to tell them what the program entails and why they shouldn’t want to be part of it.”
The program, Martinez continued, is a 14-week commitment.
“If they choose to participate, any record of truancy on their name becomes scrubbed since we’re a diversion program. We don’t want any students to get in trouble with the law or ruin their future,” Martinez said. “Once they come into our supervision, that time is divided into three phases. Phase one is six weeks long and they’re required to go to court every Wednesday, where they go before a judge and panel and talk about what they’ve been doing in school and what they’ve been doing to help improve their attendance and improve their grades. If that’s successful, they move on to Phase two, which is six weeks long, and the student has to go to court only every other Wednesday, and by this time, a student should have improved their grades and attendance. If successful here, the student then moves on to the final phase, which is only 30 days, and at that point, they should have no more issues with truancy and their grades should continue seeing improvement. It might seem like a long time, but if the student actually does the work and puts forth the effort, it’s well worth it. The goal of the program is to help these students figure out a path to succeed in life.”
A pair of students in the program then spoke to the commission about their experiences.
“Having a truancy has helped keep me in check and make sure I’m keeping my grades up and doing what I’m supposed to in school,” Liberal High School student Adrian Chavez said. “They’ve helped me see a reason for coming to school and helped keep me in line and helped me out in a lot of ways. I’ve been able to keep my grades up and since I’ve been in the program, I haven’t missed a single day of school.”
“I would really like to thank everyone for letting me come and talk about my experiences with the program,” Eisenhower Middle School student Cassidy Heronemus said. “When I started in the program, I was really scared to face everyone in it. I realized it was my own fault for even getting to the point of being recommended to the Truancy program. As time went on, I got more comfortable with my court appearances and did my best at school and everything else required. When I reached Phase two, I was really happy and realized I was doing exactly what I was supposed to. During my first semester of school, I was hardly going to school and barely passing my classes and then with the second semester, I was there every day, every week. When I reached the final phase, I made sure to keep up with everything and keep working hard. When it came to my graduation day from the program, I read my speech loud and proud. I want to thank my truancy officer, Tina, for helping keep me on track and helping me with my work. Thank you, Truancy program, for helping me get my grades up and keep me in check.”
Archuleta then shared some stats.
“Since I took over in January, we’ve had 49 cases come across my desk to offer the program,” Archuleta said. “This is a diversion program, and it is voluntary – however, if a student chooses not to go through our program, we do file with the district court, and most likely, they will be placed under informal supervision, which is more akin to probation. We want to be there to guide these children so they can have a brighter future.”
In other new business during the meeting, the commission heard from Fire Marshal Cody Regier on some education efforts regarding fireworks and the upcoming July 4 holiday.
“In our ordinance, we require vendors to have a copy displayed in their spot, but not everyone seeks that out, so we figured it would be good to give something physical to people in their bags when they buy their fireworks so they don’t have an excuse to not know the ordinance and what it all entails,” Regier said. “I put a list together, but I knew it needed dressed up somewhat, and that’s where Keeley [Moree] came in, because without her, this would be just a plain white paper with words on it, but she turned into something neater looking. The plan is to hand these out to the fireworks vendors, and they’ll put these in their customers’ shopping bags as they check out. We’re also planning on having extra enforcement from the LFD side and the Liberal Police Department side – that plan isn’t fully set in stone, but we know that’s what we want to have happen.”
