APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A measure to allow the Appleton Area School District to issue citations to chronically absent and habitually truant high school students failed Wednesday night.
Appleton Common Council actually voted 7-6 in favor of the measure, but municipal law requires any vote to receive eight votes in order to pass. One alderperson abstained and one was absent.
“What we’re trying to do is get high school students to come to school,” said Appleton Area School District Superintendent Greg Hartjes. “We’re disappointed that City Council didn’t support us in that.”
Tickets only would be issued if student doesn’t attend school for months, exhausts attendance support programs
The school district had initially requested the ability to issue tickets, but only after all existing attendance support programs were exhausted.
State law requires kids to attend school or else face a fine, but municipalities can decide whether to enforce that law. Over 400 of the 421 Wisconsin school districts enforce it.
Timeline of truancy citations in Appleton:
- 2019: Appleton strikes down controversial truancy court
- March 2025: Appleton Schools requests the ability to issue truancy tickets, but only after exhausting support options; would not operate like truancy court
- Oct. 2025: Appleton Common Council approves one-year trial period to issue truancy tickets
- July 2026: Vote on whether to renew truancy citations fails after a 6-6 tie
Alderperson Patrick Hayden requested to revisit the decision after he was absent from July’s decision, becoming one of seven alders to support the measure.
Alders who voted in favor of allowing truancy tickets:
- Josh Lambrecht, District 1
- Brad Firkus, District 3
- Martyn Smith, District 4
- Patrick Hayden, District 7
- Sheri S Hartzheim, District 13
- Christopher Croatt, District 14
- Denis Dougherty, District 15
“We should let the people who deal with this all the time and on a full-time basis make the call,” said Smith. “[The school district is] going at this in a conservative and careful way, and I see no reason why this doesn’t fit in our community standards.”
Alders who voted against allowing truancy tickets:
- Vered Meltzer, District 2
- Katie Van Zeeland, District 5
- Denise Fenton, District 6
- Alex Schultz, District 9
- Adrian Stancil-Martin, District 11
- Nate Wolff, District 12
“I see the alternative methods of intervention throughout the process that the district implemented as being the real way we curb truancy,” said Stancil-Martin. “I think ultimately it does more harm than it does good.”
Patti Heffernan of District 8 abstained and Vaya Jones of District 10 was absent. Heffernan has opposed truancy citations throughout the past 1 1/2 years of debate, and Jones voted against the one-year trial period last year.
The truancy citations impacted only high school students, with the district issuing just one ticket in the entire 2025-26 school year. Attendance improved last year, as it overall has the past few years, due in part to students viewing it as a deterrent, according to information the district gathered.
“Without question, we’re concerned that students are going to miss more school next year, which means less success for kids,” said Hartjes.
The district has no plans of asking Common Council reconsider in the near future, Hartjes said, and will continue working with its existing support programs but without the ability to issue tickets to students if they still fail to attend school in any capacity.
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