Prairie View letter on truancy inaction discussed by county attorney, commission
- Charlene Sims, Journal staff
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
By Charlene Sims
MOUND CITY – A letter from Prairie View High School principal Kate Gronquist about unresolved issues with the county attorney’s office over alleged inaction on truancy cases, brought County Attorney Justin Meeks and Sheriff James Akes to the commission meeting on Monday, March 30.
After a seven minute executive session with Meeks, Akes, and County Counselor Jacklyn Paletta, the commissioners came out of that session to hear Meeks and Akes report on truancy.
Before the executive session was voted on, Commission Chair Alison Hamilton mentioned the letter from Prairie View, indicating she had received a copy.
Hamilton then said, “if you want to discuss it publicly that’s fine. And if not, you want to go into executive session?”
Meeks answered, “We cannot discuss it in public because of active ongoing cases and things of that nature. I’d like to go in for two reasons.
Hamilton made the motion that they go into the executive session with the above people for seven minutes for attorney-client privilege. Meeks added “active ongoing litigation and possible litigation.”
“We did receive a letter from Prairie View school concerning some truancy issues and some other allegations of following up on some possible criminal things that happened,” Meeks told commissioners. ”We think most of them did occur prior to me becoming county attorney. I do have a meeting with all the interested parties at 3:30. And so we will go through all those processes and talk to them about it and hopefully have the questions answered.
“One of the things I did talk about was truancy. So, in Kansas there’s some specific statutes that relate to truancy. They’re basically three unexcused absences, consecutive five in a semester and seven for the total year they’re unexcused.
“And we actually work pretty close with DCF (Department of Children and Families) and the different state agencies to help with those truancies. We actually have a program that’s a good thing to have in Linn County, that it’s kind of like an IEP (Individual Education Plan) program that actually helps the kiddos before we actually file the cases and they work with the kids to make sure they go to school.
“So I have two staff members that actually track those truancies to make sure the kids are going to school. We actually call the parents, talk to the school administration and find out why the kids are missing. And if there’s a medical issue, we don’t file.
“At 16, with the parents’ permission, you can sign yourself out of school. In Linn County, there are some really good online school options. If you’re 18, obviously you’re an adult under the laws, and you can sign yourself out of school. So, our goal is to help kids graduate.
“I’m a prior educator. My first job before I became a lawyer was as a teacher and I have a lot of teaching background with my family history. So, education is a passion of mine and I want kids to graduate and even on my end as a county attorney, I have discretion with that so hopefully we can answer that school’s concerns.
“I have met with some administration at Jayhawk-Linn and we plan on hopefully getting some meetings set up with Pleasanton before the end of the school year so I can introduce myself and my victim’s coordinator which we are sending off to training which I am grateful for. She’s been very much a key part of our office. So, if there’s any other questions or concerns but we’re following up on the letter. We’ll hopefully have answers to that letter and go from there.”
On Wednesday in a phone interview with Prairie View Superintendent Chris Johnson, she acknowledged that Gronquist, with her permission, had sent a letter to the county asking for help with truancy cases.
Johnson said that a limited number students have been truant over and over, and that the school has been sending the county attorney’s office information and received no response. However, she said the letter did not threaten legal action.
“We repeatedly send them things, but nothing is done about it, so there’s no buy-in to it,” Johnson said.
“We’re just wanting to make sure we’re all on the same page,” she said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Jayhawk-Linn district Superintendent Shawn Thomas said his district has had positive communication with the county attorney regarding truancy, and there have not been any issues.