The Brooklyn District Attorney is calling for a change in the truancy policy at city schools in the wake of the beating death of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown.

Charles Hynes plans to ask the Department of Education to strengthen its truancy policy. He wants letters sent home to parents about the absences in an effort to get to the root of why kids are not in school. The DA says frequent absences should raise a red flag for school officials that the child may be getting abused. In the case of Nixzmary, officials say she missed nearly two months of school.

Education officials say there are cases when chronic absences can be a warning sign of abuse, but add that sometimes kids don't show up for school simply because they don't want to.

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