## Facts

- A seven-year-old elementary student had significant school absences early in the school year and continued attendance problems.
- Due to poor academic performance, the child was moved from first grade back to kindergarten and received special services in reading and math.
- School personnel repeatedly attempted to address the attendance problem through home visits and other assistance.
- A family-services coordinator personally transported the child to school on multiple occasions when the child did not arrive.
- A parenting aide frequently provided rides when the child missed the bus.
- The parent attributed absences to illness and other reasons, including oversleeping, but the attendance pattern did not materially improve.

## Issues

1. Whether a CHIPS adjudication for educational neglect may be based on a parent’s persistent failure to ensure regular school attendance even if the absences do not satisfy the statutory definition of “habitual truancy.”
2. Whether the evidence supported the finding that the child was “without necessary education” due to parental inability or unwillingness to provide that care.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the CHIPS adjudication based on educational neglect.
- Educational neglect and habitual truancy are independent statutory grounds; proof of habitual truancy is not an element of educational neglect.
- Substantial evidence supported that the child’s education was jeopardized by ongoing attendance failures despite repeated intervention and assistance.

## Legal Principles

- A child may be adjudicated in need of protection or services for being without necessary education due to a parent’s inability or unwillingness to provide that care.
- The statutory definition of “habitual truancy” does not limit or control the educational-neglect ground; educational neglect can be found regardless of whether the seven-day unexcused-absence threshold is met.
- Persistent failure to secure regular school attendance can establish educational neglect when the record shows continued absence problems, unsuccessful remedial efforts, and resulting educational harm.
- Appellate review defers to juvenile-protection findings when supported by substantial evidence and consistent with the statutory standard.

## Conclusion

The court held that persistent failure to ensure a child’s regular school attendance can support a CHIPS adjudication for educational neglect even if the absences do not meet the statutory definition of habitual truancy, and it affirmed the educational-neglect finding on the record presented.


In re Welfare of B.A.B., 572 N.W.2d 776 (Minn. Ct. App. 1998)