Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A parent of the Linden City School System approached the BOE with grievances about the system’s truancy policy at a meeting on Feb. 24.

The parent said she was arrested due to the excessive absences of her children. However, she said that her children were not absent on all days listed by administration and a differentiation was not made between excused and unexcused absences.

She said that one letter was sent to her house regarding the absences but was addressed to her deceased in-laws with her husband’s name listed as the student. Additionally, the parent was notified that the warrant was for her son, but the paperwork later said it was for her daughter. She complained that she was not given proper notification about the issue by the truancy officer prior to the arrest.

“All he had to do was call. He has not called,” she said.

While the case was thrown out, she said she intends to file a grievance against LCSS.

Superintendent Timothy Thurman said he will meet with the truancy officer to discuss the matter further.

Other actions taken by the board include:

• approving a bid by Nathan E. Daniels Roofing to repair the Linden Elementary School roof after it was damaged by a small fire in the summer. The bid amount is $11,330.

• opening bids for a vehicle to be used by Superintendent Timothy Thurman for school-related purposes

• employing Lauren Ault as English Language Arts teacher at Linden High School for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.

• hearing the school updates from the system principals.

The Linden BOE meets every fourth Monday at 4 p.m. at the central office. The public is invited to attend.

(This article originally appeared in the Wednesday, March 11 issue of the Demopolis Times.)