FBISD suspends truancy procedures pending evaluation

Fort Bend ISD (FBISD) officials today informed parents that the district is suspending all of its truancy procedures pending a complete review of the system that disciplines students for missing an excessive number of classes without an excuse.

FBISD Superintendent sent a letter to parents of the roughly 70,000 students in the district to explain the reasoning behind the decision. The move comes amid new attention being paid to the district's truancy policies, generally regarded as some of the harshest in the state. Fort Bend is one of two counties in the state (Dallas County is the other) that operates a dedicated truancy court.

"We don't have a definitive timeline for how long the policies will be suspended, but we are suspending the process to make sure we're doing what's best for the students," FBISD Spokesperson Amanda Bubela said. "Of course, this has been the source of a great deal of discussion, so the district decided it would be best to take a time out and pause these procedures to take a look at them and make sure we're doing what's best for the students."

FBISD suspends truancy procedures pending evaluation