Regional Office of Education #9
Champaign - Ford Counties


Programs: Attendance Improvement Program (AIP)


The mission of the program is to provide and coordinate services for students who are experiencing attendance problems so the potential for each student to achieve academic success is maximized.

AIP Forms

We are providing PDF fill-in documents for some ROE forms.You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view these forms. This will allow you to enter information directly from your PC and print the form with the information entered. However, there is no computation, validation or verification of the information you enter, and you are still responsible for entering all required information. Instructions may require some information to be handwritten on the form.

If you want, you may save PDF FILLABLE FORM files to your hard drive using the following steps. However, the data you enter into the fill-fields can be saved only if you have the entire Adobe Acrobat software package.

  1. Right click on the active link to the form.
  2. Access the "Save Target As" option in the drop-down menu.
  3. Save the file to the location of your choice, e.g., Desktop or C Drive.
  4. Double click on the file and the Adobe Reader 4.0 will open the form.
  5. Fill in the form and print out when complete. (If you have the entire Adobe Acrobat software package, entered data can be saved for later use and editing.)

To use the fill-in forms:

  1. Open the PDF form.
  2. Select the hand tool from the Acrobat toolbar menu.
  3. Move the hand pointer inside a form field. Click when it changes to an I-beam pointer.
    • The I-beam pointer allows you to type text.
    • The arrow pointer allows you to select a field or check a box.
  4. Press Tab to accept the information you have typed and go to the next field.
  5. Press Shift + Tab to accept the information you have typed and go to the previous field.
  6. You may also use your mouse to move from field to field. Note: You cannot access the check boxes using the Tab key. You must click on the check-box fields with the arrow pointer.
  7. When you have completed the form, print as usual.
  8. Fax it to:
    Regional Office of Education #9
    200 S. Fredrick Street
    Rantoul, IL 61866
    Fax: 217.893.0024
Form Description:
Form Type
Attendance Improvement Program Referral
Abolish Chronic Truancy Referral

Click the Acrobat Reader icon below to download the
newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe.

Staff:

Regina Parnell
Attendance Improvement Specialist
E-mail: parnellr@roe9.k12.il.us

Phone: (217) 893-3219
Fax: (217) 893-0024

Background:

     The Illinois School Code states that compulsory school attendance is required by every child between the ages of seven (7) and sixteen (16) years of age. If a child does not attend school regularly for reasons other than illness, observance of religious holiday, family emergency or death in the family, which can be verifiable, he or she is considered truant. The Statute further provides for the Regional Superintendent to appoint a truant officer to serve the various districts under its direction. The Regional Superintendent has appointed the Assistant Regional Superintendent as the Truant Officer for Champaign and Ford Counties.

     The program is designed to reduce the current and future number of truants and dropouts in Champaign and Ford Counties.

     The program offers a variety of prevention and intervention services. These services include attendance incentives, student advocacy, case management, home visits, school visits, referral to agencies for counseling, and technical assistance to individual school districts and the community. These services are provided based on the needs of individual students, parents, and schools, and are used in designing an individualized service plan for each student. Attendance specialists coordinate program services with school and community services to provide each student with a successful educational plan.

     The mission of the program is to provide and coordinate services for students who are experiencing attendance problems so the potential for each student to achieve academic success is maximized.

     The Attendance Improvement Program implemented the Abolish Chronic Truancy (A.C.T.) Program during the 1999-2000 school year in Champaign County. The A.C.T. Program holds accountable those parents of elementary and middle school children who are excessively unexcused absent from school. These parents are advised that they may be prosecuted by the State's Attorney for failing to ensure their child's regular school attendance. In addition, referrals are provided for whatever school, medical, or community assistance is needed. This program deals primarily with elementary school children and seeks to cover not only the seriously truant children but also those who are just starting to develop truant behavior by excessive absences, which are inappropriately excused by the parents. Therefore, the A.C.T. program seeks to make parents accountable for their child's education in the same manner that they are held accountable to provide food, clothing, and shelter for their children.

     The goals of the program are: improve school attendance through parental and child accountability, addressing attendance problems at the earliest possible time before the child's behavior is ingrained and while the parent still exercises control over the child (pre-high school), and long term reduction of delinquency, adult criminality and joblessness.

     The purpose of the A.C.T. program is to decrease the number of truancy cases that require court intervention. Court is always a last resort and is only utilized when all other measures have failed in getting the child in school.

Copyright © 2005 Champaign-Ford Regional Office of Education
All rights reserved.