County teachers call the roll every day to find students missing from their classrooms.

Despite a 97 percent attendance rate, the Cherokee County School District has stepped up its efforts to combat truancy.

The district has already done 150 attendance intervention plans in an effort to get students back into school. Weekly reports are regularly sent over to superintendent Dr. Bill James to track student attendance.

"We have been very conscientious in working to keep our attendance up in schools," James said. "Kids can't learn unless they are in school."

Truancy is the absence of students from class without a good reason. It is often the first clue parents and teachers have about more serious problems that can follow students, such as becoming gang members, committing crimes during the day and abusing drugs and/or alcohol.

"Student attendance often starts to become a problem in middle school," said Herman Thompson, district director of attendance, transportation and discipline. "Students are required to attend school until they are 17. We have targeted students in the middle schools and high schools. We want students to understand the importance of coming to school."

State law requires students to attend school for 180 days. Students are allowed a maximum of 10 absences during a school year.

Attendance is a major factor in whether high school students earn a unit towards state graduation requirements.

Student attendance problems can result from transportation issues, academic difficulties, social issues like bullying, or a home issue such as caring for a young sibling at home.

The district's goal is to address these attendance problems before students are referred to Family Court, attendance clerk Teri Carter said. A judge has the authority to send a student to a Department of Juvenile Justice facility for 30 days for not attending school regularly.