In March 2026, as Layna Ziegler was about to begin her second semester at Western Boone Junior-Senior High School in Thorntown, her parents, Crystal and Jacob Ziegler, unexpectedly received a letter from the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office.
It stated that under Indiana law, they could be charged with negligence for allowing her to miss so much school. They could even face a felony charge, and their daughter could be put on probation.
than 16% of Indiana students were chronically absent during the 2024-25 school year. Although this is a decrease from COVID-19 pandemic-era levels, state lawmakers have taken legislative action in recent years to lower student absences back to what they were pre-pandemic, or below 11.3%…