Chalkbeat Chicago: Illinois Students missed a lot of school last year: it’s a sign that something isn’t working

By Max Herman

For the past 19 years, when students in Kane County have missed school, Kari Glenn has visited their homes to see what’s preventing them from attending classes.

As a truancy officer, she says this year has been the hardest. 

In one of the families Glenn works with, the single parent died, leaving behind four young children. “Now they’re going to be living with a relative and that relative isn’t completely prepared to take on four little kids,“ she said.