The City of Appleton no longer has a truancy enforcement law on the books − and a resolution to restore it failed July 15 in Common Council.
Despite support from Appleton school district leadership, a resolution to continue truancy enforcement didn’t pass after a 6-6 vote. In October 2025, the council had passed an ordinance to enforce Wisconsin’s compulsory school attendance law on a trial basis, but that trial period expired June 30.
At the Common Council meeting July 15, council member Chris Croatt, the leader of the Safety and Licensing Committee, recommended continuing truancy enforcement from Sept. 1, 2026, until after Aug. 31, 2027.
Supporters of the resolution wanted to have another yearlong trial period and communicate the expectation that Appleton students should be in school, pointing to increased attendance data for 2025-26 as a sign that the ordinance was working as a deterrent.
According to data the Appleton school district provided to the council, the percentage of high school students who were chronically absent, habitually truant and failed at least one class was 20.3% in 2023-24, 18.5% in 2024-25, and 15% in 2025-26. A student is considered chronically absent if they are enrolled for 90 days in the school year but miss more than 10% of possible attendance days; habitual truancy is defined as missing all or part of five school days in a semester, without an excuse.
Three members of the Appleton School Board – Jason Kolpack, Ed Ruffolo and board President Kay Eggert – supported the resolution during public comment.
Eggert said attendance issues are “best addressed using a multi-tiered approach” and that school attendance is a clear indicator of student success. The district uses incentives, Check & Connect mentors, a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club Truancy Reduction & Assessment Center, mental health referrals and other interventions to improve attendance. It continued to use these approaches during the 2025-26 school year, with only one student receiving a truancy citation.
Others disagreed with the resolution, pointing to the district’s own data that showed it had been seeing improvements in both chronic absenteeism and truancy before the truancy ordinance was in place.
“The supports that have been put in place, the emotional intelligence of teachers − I believe that it is those things that are increasing attendance,” said council member Patti Heffernan. She also praised the “phenomenal” work educators were doing to encourage kids to come to school.
The city of Appleton abolished its truancy court and stopped issuing tickets in 2019. Starting in March 2025, the school district advocated for bringing back truancy citations as a last-resort intervention to encourage students to attend school.
While the district said in a statement to the Post-Crescent that it was too early to determine next steps, it plans to “continue to prioritize student attendance through our comprehensive system of supports, which focuses on identifying barriers to attendance, partnering with families, and connecting students with the resources they need to be successful in school.”
“The district continues to believe that a truancy ordinance is an essential component of any comprehensive approach to improving student attendance,” the district’s statement concluded.
Rebecca Loroff is a K-12 education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at rloroff@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Appleton council rejects plan to continue truancy tickets
Reporting by Rebecca Loroff, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
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By Rebecca Loroff, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
