LEWISTON – Parents telling educators they can’t get their son or daughter out of bed to go to school, or they can’t convince them to go, happens too often, Superintendent Leon Levesque said.

A new state compulsory attendance law in which parents could face fines of up to $250 and/or a court order will give officials more tools to force truant students to school, he said.

The Lewiston School Committee tonight is expected to update its truancy policy to reflect the new law, Levesque said.

The problem of habitually truant students “happens all the time,” the leader said. Schools work to find out why students aren’t in school, “but what limits us is resources,” Levesque said. “We can’t send out an army.”

Students don’t learn if they’re not in school. Those who are chronically late or tardy will fall behind. Lewiston schools have tightened attendance policies and have gone to automatic phone banks that call homes when students are not in school. That has helped some, Levesque said, adding he did not have numbers.

The law, which took effect in September, treats two age groups differently.

Students in grades six and up are considered habitually truant if they miss more than 10 days a year, or seven consecutive days, of unexcused absences.

Younger students are considered habitually truant if they miss seven days a year, or five consecutive days, of unexcused absences.

When students reach those numbers, principals or attendance officers are to alert the superintendent, who is to ask the parents to meet with their child’s teachers. If educators are unable to contact the parents or correct the problem, the superintendent is to inform the School Committee, which will conduct a hearing notifying the parents of their rights and obligations under the law.

Sometimes parents are tough to reach, Levesque said. When they can’t be reached by phone or mail, “we sent out Butch Pratt, director of transportation, to make home visits. Sometimes folks leave (Lewiston) and don’t let us know.”

When a student is in violation of the compulsory attendance law, and the superintendent has made a good faith effort with the parents without results, the superintendent is to inform the police and the Department of Health and Human Services. They, in turn, could take court action against the parents. That could lead to a fine of up to $250, and/or a judge mandating parents to ensure their children go to school. The civil court part of the law is new, as is alerting human services, Levesque said.

In the past, educators only contacted human services “when we saw abuse,” Levesque said. “We’ve always worked with law enforcement.”

Some parents have told Levesque their sons or daughters missed school because the parents overslept and didn’t wake their students up, or that they have little control over their sons or daughters and can’t make them go to school.

“We have lots of that,” Levesque said. “This is what this law is trying to do, create responsible parenting skills.” Often a student not going to school stems from the home environment, Levesque said. Children who aren’t raised that school is important, and who miss too much, “is a form of neglect,” he said.

So far this year, Levesque has not had to enforce the law, he said.