TYLA Office

Tracy Brown, Director of Administration
Bree Trevino, Project Coordinator
Michelle Palacios, Office Manager
General Questions: tyla@texasbar.com

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 12487, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711-2487
(800) 204-2222 ext. 1529
FAX: (512) 427-4117

Street Address

1414 Colorado, 4th Floor
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 427-1529

 

Views and opinions expressed in eNews are those of their authors and not necessarily those of the Texas Young Lawyers Association or the State Bar of Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feature TYLA Project

TYLA’s Truancy Guide
By:  Rebekah Steely Brooker

          I loved going to school.  I was the kid who had virtually perfect attendance from elementary school through high school.  I enjoyed making new friends, learning from different teachers, and studying many different subjects.  Every year I got excited to get new books, go to different classes, and show off my new Trapper Keeper.  Although my excitement may have dwindled some as I grew older, and I no longer used a Trapper Keeper, I always genuinely liked going to school.  Now, I get to enjoy the excitement of my two young sons as they start school each year and make new friends, and it is always fun to see everyone’s first-day-of-school pictures on Facebook.

          However, after talking to Judge Amanda Torres, a Justice of the Peace in Corpus Christi, Texas and new TYLA director, I was surprised to learn that the number of school-aged children in Texas who purposefully skip school is so great that she has an entire docket devoted to truancy cases.  In fact, Texas has enacted truancy laws to combat the growing problem of unexcused absences.  Even more interestingly, the State of Texas does not just penalize the student for their failure to attend class; parents or guardians can be held accountable and fined for contributing to their child’s non-attendance.

          TYLA has created the Truancy Guide as an information pamphlet for students and parents.  It provides basic information about not only the truancy laws and penalties, but how to obtain an expunction and how to dismiss a complaint. 

          Special thanks go to Judge Amanda Torres and Shannon Steele White for their work in creating this pamphlet that will, we hope, encourage students to get back into the classroom.