My Child Wants to Drop Out of School:
What Should I Do?

In Maine, your child must go to school until he or she is 17 years old. There is a myth that teens can drop out when they are 15 or 16. This is not true. Children must go to school in Maine from the time they are 7 years old until they turn 17 years old.

There is one exception. If your child has:

1. passed 9th grade or is 15 years old
2. has your permission to leave public school
3. is enrolled in an alternative education program
4. the school board agrees and
5. the principal meets with you every year until your child turns 17.

If all of these things do not happen, your child cannot drop out.

What can you do?

Once your child misses 7 school days in a row or 10 total days in a school year without an excuse, he is truant. You should work with the school to develop a truancy prevention plan.

Talk to your child about why he isn't going to school and what he wants his school day to be like. Request a meeting with the principal and attendance coordinator at your child's school. Ask your child to go to that meeting with you. At that meeting, develop a plan that your child will agree to. This plan may be a change in classes, vocational programming, alternative education, tutoring, mentoring, a modified day, or something else.

You are responsible for making sure your child goes to school. There is the possibility that the school district will bring a court case against you if your child is truant. Get more information on Truancy.

The best thing you can do is to work with the school and your child to develop an alternative school plan.

This publication was supported by grant #2004-JL-FX-0029 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

Last update: May 2006