District Attorney: Truancy plan working in El Paso County

District Attorney Jaime Esparza presented El Paso County Commissioners with a report detailing progress made implementing a county-wide truancy plan.

“We want our students to go to school, period. And I think we’ve had some good luck with that,” Esparza said.

The Texas Legislature passed new requirements for counties during its last legislative session. County governments now have to address and prevent truancy before cases go to the courts.

It has been about a year since Esparza led the efforts to create a new county policy with the help of local school districts and Justices of the Peace.

Esparza Monday told commissioners his office has seen a big improvement since then.

“A year ago, we had 3,000 cases, over 3,000 cases in the JP courts,” Esparza said. “This year there’s just over 300, which to me is a good sign. It doesn’t mean that truancy has stopped, it just means that the schools now are working extra hard before that case enters the judicial system.”

Under the plan, schools must work with students and families more on addressing the issues leading to students missing class.

Esparza added he didn’t expect any changes to the requirements for this policy in the upcoming legislative session.