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Getting kids back in school and helping teachers educate students in a multilingual world.

In the cities.

about one in every five Illinois students.

Was chronically truant last year.

That means they missed 5% of the school year without a valid excuse.

It is down slightly from 2021, but it's still a major concern in school districts throughout the state.

The Rock Island County Regional Office of Education is trying to improve those statistics.

We talked with the office's prevention services, school and family engagement case manager, Derek Turner, and the office's assistant director of prevention services and truancy officer, Jennifer.

Mary's.

Sabrina's.

Derek, let me start with you.

Illinois has a compulsory attendance policy, like any state.

Enforcing it is another story.

Yeah, there's a lot going on with that.

The state of Illinois at some point determined that it's really just a financial burden or hardship to take it.

Somebody that's not going to school.

But it is still a law.

Through age 16.

You have to go to school.

It's it's what's required.

And, Trying to encourage and enforce the the the the I don't know how long because, I mean, ticketing isn't the way.

No.

And Jennifer, let's talk about this because you are a truant officer.

You don't look like a truancy officer.

You don't look like that person who I always remembered way back a year ago.

I mean, what is it that you have to do to make sure that kids are going to school?

First and foremost, we, as strong officers meet with the families, to kind of go over the attendance, see, and determine what barriers are facing.

I mean, it can be anything from transportation to lack of resources.

So our job is to identify those, issues and connect them with the appropriate resources.

If it's something that is available within the ROE, we are able to assist with them.

If we don't have that available, then we connect them with other social service agencies around the Quad Cities.

Derrick has also been amazing as our school and family engagement case manager, where, we have we have had other cases where they require a little bit more TLC.

So we ask Derrick to kind of give us a hand with that.

And he's more personable with the families in connecting them.

And that's, you know, that is your role is to get into the house and kind of find out what the problem is.

Get the kids in school.

What do you see as the problem?

Most of the time?

Is it is it a lack of parental supervision?

Is is it because, let's be honest, I mean, there's single parents or even, you know, married couples where it's just too much their, their heads are just barely above water.

And getting kids to school is important to them, but not necessarily something that can easily do.

I agree.

I have not seen a type cast yet.

I've seen very wealthy, successful, happy marriages.

I've seen people working three jobs trying to make ends meet.

And, there's no right.

I mean, there's always a reason, but there's no, there's no stereotype to it.

Otherwise you could you could fix it, like, oh, for sure.

And it's a compound problem, but it's, it's it's growing.

Some parents I feel like maybe didn't put the work in when they were younger, and now it's too much to handle, or they're really just trying to work to to make ends meet.

And, you know, they can't physically take their child to school or, you know, I've seen a lot of, mental health.

I mean, we were all young at one point and nervous and in our own heads about going and feeling belonging in school.

But I feel like it's really compounded, especially in some of the older kids, from the Covid and the home schooling and things like that.

The younger kids, I feel like we're more impacted scholastically.

You know, it's not that hard to miss a younger grade and go right back in and feel loved and belong.

But when you're middle school freshman and and maybe a sophomore, and, you know, I think, that feeling of connectedness is really my goal.

And if like, like Jennifer said, if it's, an issue with food, school, transportation, clothing, whatever, I want to help.

I want to mentor.

I want to reinforce your efforts.

I don't want them to feel like it has to be fixed overnight.

Any effort is good effort.

Any progress is good progress.

And I think it's just how you approach the problem and the people.

Jennifer, I was looking at some of the statistics.

And when it does come to chronic absenteeism in Illinois over the last five years, it has risen.

It's the highest in five years.

But it it is pretty stable in some ways.

And I wonder to what impact is Covid still playing a part in this?

It was such a disruption to young people's lives and the school years.

Yes, I completely agree.

I mean, I blame Covid.

It definitely took a toll on the children.

As Derek mentioned, they were, you know, at home doing their remote learning.

Some students were even doing the hybrid method, which was going in person half a day doing, the remote learning, the other half of the day.

So there really wasn't any structure for the children, which in turn, you know, causes anxiety.

And they develop mental health issues as well.

So, yes, we are year five since Covid and we are still seeing those patterns, continue.

And it's a fight that we work through every day.

Chronic absenteeism is, 5%, of our 180, 170, 388 day school year.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but it is correct.

It's nine days.

Nine days may not seem like a lot for us, but if you.

I mean, if you just take a calendar and look at what, a month looks like, nine days is almost two full weeks of school, that's a lot of instruction time that they are missing.

So, Derek, you were saying just getting the kids to think about going to school nine days is still a big deal.

And that's really the message that I wanted to get out.

When I meet with kids or parents, older or younger, when I actually break it down and show them how many days of school there isn't a year, it feels like a lot.

You feel like you go five days and you get two off.

So it feels like a majority, but it's not.

It's less than half the days in a calendar year, and it's really a matter of perspective when you see that it helps parents and students understand you do have time for other things.

It's not as bad as it looks, but it does make every day you miss matter more because it's less than half of the days in the year, so it's not like you're missing one out of 365.

You're missing one school day, which is less than half of the year.

So it it's twice as bad as you might think it is when you miss a day.

You pointing out that you know, there's a lot of reasons why kids don't go to school.

And there always have been.

Do you think it's even harder now for kids to go to school because of either social media, because of bullying, because they have fallen behind and they sit in a classroom and aren't catching up, and perhaps a personal feeling of failure.

And it's I just don't get it.

And I don't want to anymore.

I think it's all of the all of the above.

Yeah, I really do.

And and, I also feel like, it comes back to that connectedness.

We're on our phones.

We're not outside at the mall playing with our friends, you know what I mean?

And, when you feel isolated, you don't feel like you belong.

It's harder to go, but the way to feel connected and feel like you belong is to go and one big change I have seen in all of the schools and the staff, they they're more welcoming.

You know, I kind of felt like when I was in school, maybe they were like, oh, he wasn't here anyway.

He doesn't care.

I don't feel that way anymore.

I feel like the teachers and the admin and the staff, they all want them there.

And I just really, really want to find a way to get that message to the kids.

If you've missed, you're not judged.

They want you there.

If you've missed a bunch, it doesn't matter.

They want you there.

It's where you belong.

It's where you get the the skills and the benchmarks that you need to be a good human.

But do you think the real problem is perhaps the peers?

And I want to get back at the bullying.

I mean, you can have a welcoming teacher, but if Sally, who's sitting two desks away, is the meanest person on earth and you want to avoid it.

Easiest thing to do is avoid it.

It is.

And I want to break that barrier.

I do not like bullies.

Call me.

I got you.

I'll sit down with you.

The bully, the teachers.

The only reason I've worked with kids for a long time.

And the only reason you're meeting to another kid is because you're jealous.

It's not.

If you don't like somebody, you're not going to talk to them.

You're not going to make fun of them.

It's because you're not a good human and you don't have social skills.

It has nothing to do with the person being bullied, ever.

Jennifer, tell me about there are there are protocols in place to make sure kids go to school.

How does that work?

I mean, do you get a phone call from from a school saying that Sally isn't coming often enough?

Or how does that work that that it starts the process of making sure a child does attend class?

Our prevention services office has a referral protocol, that we've followed for a very long time.

Schools will send a referral to our office when a student has reached an excessive amount of absences.

There are assigned to an officers for each school district, so that an officer will take the case.

We'll, send out an appointment notice to meet with the families, preferably at school place that's close and convenient for them.

We'll sit down with them, have those conversations, determine if there's any barriers.

Just kind of dissect the attendance.

Sometimes there's discrepancies and so forth.

Offer assistance.

We continue to follow up, and just do check ins with the family to ensure that they are following through and that they are not in need of any other resources.

And if they are, again, Derek helps us out with that.

The last thing we ever want to do is have to send families to court.

And we want our families to understand that we are here to help them.

That is the very last thing that that we ever take into account.

It is part of our protocol.

But it's not something that enacted how often I mean that that is your last resort.

But how often do you do that?

In a year?

In a year, I would say a number of times, where, you know, families have gone through our entire protocol, including our own little truancy, hearings.

And, you know, I will forward those over to the sheriff's office, who will then turn them into the state's attorney's office.

And the reason why I ask that is it is your last resort.

I would think it's almost the least effective.

You know, exactly.

It's like, what does that accomplish other than a penalty?

Exactly.

And that's why the key early, early, interception, interception of the problem is so important.

Exactly.

And like I said, we want to get to the root of the problem before it escalates.

But if it should escalate to State Attorney's office, that is up to the judges.

We don't have a say in what happens.

I've only known of families who do get basically put on probation.

And, I mean, it's mandatory that their children attend what the consequences are after that.

I'm not 100% sure.

Although the law states that a family or parent guardian can get fined up to $500 and ten days in jail as a truancy officer with Rock Island County Office of Education, is there a big difference between, let's say, the urban schools and the more rural schools?

I would say the the difference is the transportation.

That's exactly right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The I mean, aside from that, everyone is going through struggles every one has different barriers that we are out there to help them break down.

But the big, big cause is the transportation piece.

I'm not sure if you know Jim, but two of our biggest school districts in Rock Island County don't have any bussing.

So, yeah, I mean, it does become an issue.

So, Derek, I be telling you about that.

I mean, you, I'm sure, spend most of your time in the urban areas and the Rock Island is the Moline Coal Valley, or do you spend a lot more in the rural areas?

You'd be shocked.

They might dress different, but the problems don't change.

It's, it's the connectedness.

It can be socio economic.

It can be mental health.

The problems don't change.

Maybe the proportion of low level a little bit.

And I think you're you're right.

Probably more time spent in the more urban areas because of the density and the number of kids, but not because of a shift in problems.

Let's talk.

You mentioned home schooling as perhaps, you know, a potential problem when it comes to, public school education.

A little later on.

As you know, home schooling is a huge issue in Illinois right now where you have to even verify if a child is going to school.

Has that been an issue for you?

I've seen, so there's no accountability.

I don't want to put my my personal opinion as gospel, but there's no accountability.

My one thing I noticed when I started this job is I want to know these kids exist.

You know, like, if you say you're homeschooling your kid, nobody, nobody.

Nobody knows that kid is even alive.

If you move school districts and you don't roll your kid, nobody knows that kid is alive or existing.

I don't want intrusive government, but I do want some accountability.

With all the things going on with younger people these days, I would at least like to know that they're okay.

DCFs, I'm not positive, but I'm don't believe they they pursue, educational neglect.

And again, if you want a home schooling, you do a great job.

That's fantastic.

If you just want to say your home schooling and keep your kid home and watching SpongeBob all day, that's not really going to help anybody.

So when it comes to those consequences with the state's attorney, I'm not a big fan of negative consequences, but the negative consequences of not sending them to school are far greater on all of society.

So you got to choose your own path.

You know, Jennifer, I saw you were nodding, especially when the of the term educational neglect came up.

Tell me about that.

Yes.

Again, there isn't really a strict law, the homeschooling portion at the moment.

But, I mean, I wholeheartedly agree with his statement.

You know, it it just makes a huge impact on these students.

Let's look at the social aspect of things.

If children are homeschooling, they're not getting that, you know, they're not developing these relationships.

They don't know how to communicate with others.

So, we do have resources for families within the ROE as well.

If they are seeking or, you know, if they find themselves already homeschooling and don't know exactly how to go about that, we definitely encourage them to speak to our homeschool liaison.

Do you have, optimism?

I mean, because your work, you're working in the trenches day in and day out every day is a fight.

I am very hopeful.

I, I know there's a lot of work to be done.

I would have to say that I have three amazing team members, and we are giving it our all to help combat chronic absenteeism, and we want the public to know that they can also utilize this as a resource.

Don't wait for the school to send the referral to our office.

If you have questions are struggling, reach out to us and we can help.

Our thanks to Rockland County Regional Office of Education, family engagement case manager Derek Turner and assistant director of prevention services officer Jennifer Mary's Soberness.

In a moment, an opportunity for educators to better teach children from many different cultures.

But first, here are some of the events that may be perfect for you, your family and friends.

Thanks to visit Quad Cities.

Check out the things to do this week in the Quad Cities.

Start off with enjoying some 90s themed bingo at the Mississippi River Distilling Company on April 15th.

Then you can head to Hallberg Estate for the Hallberg History Series on April 17th.

Next experience elements of fashion.

Earth Day Edition a day dedicated to sustainable fashion a dress for success Quad Cities.

Then you can enjoy a free Easter Egg hunt at the free House Farmer's Market on April 19th, and then end your week at Dueling Pianos at the Rust Belt on April 19th.

For more events like these, make sure you head to our Events Calendar app.

Visit Quad Cities dot.

Moline Coal Valley touts a broad representation of diverse cultures and about 60 languages.

And Rock Island schools offer interpreter services in 14 different languages.

So those are just two examples of the multilingual challenges being seen by teachers in area schools.

And once again, Wqpt is hosting its Ready to Learn Multilingual Education conference, a chance to bring together educators, caregivers and others to help multilingual learners from early childhood all the way to adulthood.

And this year's conference is coming up Saturday, April 26th.

We talk with Wqpt Education Outr So the multilingual education conference really is for teachers and educators.

Why it why is that become such an important focus.

Our community includes so many amazing multilingual students and families.

And that number just continues to grow.

And so we want to offer this as a professional development opportunity, like you said, for teachers and educators, administrators, pre-service teachers.

So, high school and college age students that are interested in teaching, as well as community advocates, parents and caregivers.

Well, because that's a good point that you made, because in years past, the Ready to Learn conference is geared more towards other aspects of not multilingual education.

It really does underline how it's become more important in the school system.

Right?

Previously the the focus of the conference was really just on early childhood.

Which of course, now within the multilingual conference, early childhood is still a focus, but we've expanded it all the way up to, strategies for teaching adult, multilingual learners.

So we're really talking about what English as a second language type.

And I know that phrase is sometimes not.

Yes, that's that's a term that's used LML, but it's all essentially, students and families who come to us, knowing more than one language and are learning English, in, in their homes and in schools.

And we're talking about because we're looking at how many different languages are spoken in the Moline, Coal Valley or the Rock Island Milan school district.

I think it's eye opening for many people.

It's fascinating and it's really an asset to our community.

I don't know the exact number because the number just grows.

It does.

As as new families move to our community.

I do know that, between rock Island, East Moline and Moline schools, it's almost 3000 multilingual learners in the K-12 schools.

So what do you hope this conference does accomplish?

Because there is educational credits, which is critically important for these teachers.

Right.

So we're offering sessions that cover, a wide range of topics.

One of the hot topics in education right now is the science of reading, as it's called.

And so we will look at how that applies to multilingual learners.

We have sessions about using AI for teachers.

Our keynote presenter is going to share about community advocacy and, being a leader within her school, and and many others.

There was Bilingual teacher of the year last year for Illinois.

Yeah, she's a 2024 bilingual teacher of the year for for like you said, for the state of Illinois, Sarah Mendez.

She teaches in the Monmouth, Roseville, school district.

And so we're just so excited to have her join us and share her expertise.

And I think that's important to point out.

Monmouth.

Roseville.

Mostly rural school district.

So we're talking about not just, urban school districts, per se, the larger school districts, but the multilingual education, needs really trickle down to school districts, big and small.

Right, right.

We know that our multilingual learners and their families are an important part of communities.

Yes, all across the state, big and small.

Tell me about the registration.

How does somebody get involved?

So, you can go to our website, Kcpt or RTL, which was the previous name for Ready to Learn.

But so from there you can go to the registration page.

Find out more information.

The cost is $40.

Very affordable.

That includes, breakfast, lunch and then all the sessions and, and, CPD or professional development credits for, for educators.

And you're saying this I mean, it's really from early childhood all the way to adulthood.

Right, right.

Again, the sessions will cover a wide range of topics that will be applicable to many, many different age groups and grade levels.

From, you know, birth to adult and registration forms are located where again on our website.

Org slash RTL.

The event is happening.

Saturday, April 26th.

serving the wealth management needs of clients in the region So it's coming up soon, and, it's here at Western Illinois University.

It's a full day conference, and we're just excited to bring, community members together to learn.

Yeah.

Our thanks to Wqpt Education Outreach Director, Melissa Gravatt.

Registration continues for this year's conference that is coming up once again on Saturday, April 26th.

You can get details and wqpt.org on the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues and the cities.

We'll.

VCU we've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial health and we are here I am VCU is a proud supporter of Wqpt.

Public affairs programing on Wqpt is brought to you by the Singh Group at Merrill, for over 35 years.

This program was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.