Texas
Commissioner Discourages CPS Truancy Investigations
Texas Commissioner of Education Jim Nelson has called for an end to a problem that has plagued home schooling families for years. In a memorandum to school districts dated January 14, 2000, Commissioner Nelson advised school officials not to contact Child Protective Services (CPS) for truancy matters. Under Texas law, school attendance officers—not CPS workers—are responsible for investigating unexcused absences from school and enforcing the compulsory attendance law.
Unfortunately, until recently, such truancy reports to CPS have been a recurring problem in Texas. When there was some question about a home schooling family’s compliance with the compulsory attendance law, some local public school officials requested a CPS investigation. But the commissioner’s memo stated that CPS reports by public school officials should be limited to instances of suspected child abuse or neglect.
So far, Commissioner Nelson’s memorandum seems to have stopped Texas school official requests for CPS truancy investigations. —Dewitt T. Black
