BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2616|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2616
          Author:   Carter (D)
          Amended:  8/6/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  8-0, 6/27/12
          AYES:  Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Huff, Liu, Price, 
            Simitian, Vargas
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner, Hancock, Vacancy

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 8/6/12
          AYES:  Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price, 
            Steinberg

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/30/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    School districts:  truancy

           SOURCE  :     Public Counsel


           DIGEST  :    This bill creates a new option for the first 
          time a truancy report is issued, shifts the existing 
          consequences for the first truancy to the second truancy, 
          and eliminates the mandate that a pupil found truant for 
          the fourth time in one school year be referred to the 
          juvenile court.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law:

            1.  Requires each person between the ages of 6 and 18 
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              years, not otherwise exempted, to be subject to 
              compulsory full-time education and attend the public 
              full-time day school or continuation school or classes 
              in which their parent or guardian resides, and that 
              each parent, guardian or other person having control or 
              charge of the pupil ensure that pupils enrollment and 
              attendance. 

            2.  Defines a "truant" as any pupil subject to compulsory 
              full-time education or to compulsory continuation 
              education who is absent from school without a valid 
              excuse three full days in one school year or tardy or 
              absent for more than any 30-minute period during the 
              schoolday without a valid excuse on three occasions in 
              one school year, or any combination thereof.  

            3.  Requires the school district to notify the pupil's 
              parent by mail upon a pupil's initial classification as 
              a truant about basic information, including that the 
              parent is obligated to compel the pupil to attend 
              school, may be guilty of an infraction and subject to 
              prosecution, and that the pupil may be subject to 
              penalties. 

            4.  Specifies that the first time a truancy report is 
              required, the pupil may be personally given a written 
              warning by any peace officer.  A record of the written 
              warning may be kept at the school for a period of not 
              less than two years, or until the pupil graduates, or 
              transfers, from that school.  If the pupil transfers, 
              the record may be forwarded to any school receiving the 
              pupil's school records.  A record of the written 
              warning may be maintained by the law enforcement agency 
              in accordance with that law enforcement agency's 
              policies and procedures. 

            5.  Requires that any pupil who has once been reported as 
              a truant and who is again absent or tardy from school 
              without a valid excuse for one day to again be reported 
              as a truant to the attendance supervisor or district 
              superintendent. 

            6.  Specifies that the second time a truancy report is 
              required within the same school year, the pupil may be 

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              assigned by the school to an afterschool or weekend 
              study program located within the same county as the 
              pupil's school.  If the pupil fails to successfully 
              complete the assigned study program, the pupil shall be 
              subject to the provisions governing the third time a 
              truancy report is required. 

            7.  Defines a "habitual truant" as any pupil who has been 
              reported as a truant three or more times per school 
              year, where an appropriate district officer or employee 
              had made a conscientious effort to hold at least one 
              conference with a parent and the pupil, after the 
              filing of either a truancy report to the attendance 
              supervisor or district superintendent. 

            8.  Defines a "chronic truant" as any pupil subject to 
              compulsory education who is absent from school without 
              a valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in one 
              school year, from the date of enrollment to the current 
              date. 

            9.  Authorizes a habitually truant pupil to be referred 
              to a school attendance review board (SARB) or to the 
              probation department for services.  If the SARB or 
              probation officer determines that available community 
              services can resolve the problem, the pupil or pupil's 
              parents shall be directed to make use of those 
              services.  If it is determined that services cannot 
              solve the problem, or if the pupil and/or parent have 
              failed to respond to directives, the SARB may notify 
              the district attorney or probation officer. 

            10. Establishes a truancy mediation program whereby the 
              district attorney or probation officer may request the 
              parents and the pupil attend a meeting to discuss the 
              possible legal consequences of the child's truancy.  

              The pupil shall be classified a habitual truant and may 
              be referred to, and required to attend, an attendance 
              review board or a truancy mediation program upon the 
              third truancy report.  

            11. Provides that, upon the fourth truancy report, a 
              pupil shall be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile 

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              court, which may adjudge the pupil to be a ward of the 
              court.  

          This bill creates a new option for the first time a truancy 
          report is issued, shifts the existing consequences for the 
          first truancy to the second truancy, and eliminates the 
          mandate that a pupil found truant for the fourth time in 
          one school year be referred to the juvenile court.  
          Specifically, this bill:

          1.Authorizes, the first time a truancy report is issued, 
            the parent or legal guardian to be requested to attend a 
            meeting with a school counselor or other school designee 
            to discuss the root causes of the attendance issue and 
            develop a joint plan to improve the pupil's attendance.

          2.Delays from the first truancy report to the second 
            truancy report issued within the same school year, the 
            existing authority for a peace officer to give the pupil 
            a written warning (which may be kept in the pupil's 
            record for at least two years) 

          3.Removes the requirement and instead authorizes the 
            referral to juvenile court of a pupil who is truant for 
            the fourth time with the same school year.

          4.Reduces, from $100 to $50, the fine that a pupil may be 
            charged by the juvenile court if adjudicated a ward of 
            the court as a result of a fourth truancy report within 
            the same school year.

          5.Specifies that a valid excuse for an absence includes, in 
            addition, reasons described in current law, other reasons 
            that are within the discretion of school administrators, 
            and based on the facts of the pupil's circumstances, are 
            deemed to constitute a valid excuse.

          6.States legislative intent that school officials use 
            discretion fairly and equitably and guard against any 
            favoritism or disproportionate enforcement when 
            determining whether a pupil should be designated as a 
            truant.

           Comments

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          This bill creates a new option for the first time a truancy 
          report is issued.  Neither current law nor this bill 
          requires specific penalties for pupils who are truant, 
          other than declaring that a pupil who is truant a fourth 
          time is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court (but 
          does not require the court to take action).  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

                 School discretion:  Likely minor local savings, to 
               the extent that schools can more often contain 
               attendance issues without involving juvenile courts 
               and other government entities.

                 Juvenile Court hearings:  Likely minor savings, 
               tens of thousands statewide to the extent that 
               juvenile court hearings related to truancies are 
               reduced.

                 Fines/Penalties:  Likely very minor revenue loss to 
               courts and local entities, to the extent that fines 
               and penalty assessments are reduced.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/8/12)

          Public Counsel (source) 
          American Civil Liberties Union
          Black Organizing Project
          Black Parallel School Board
          California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy
          California State Conference of the National Association for 
          the Advancement of Colored People
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice
          Children's Defense Fund - California
          Community Asset Development Re-defining Education
          Community Coalition
          Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
          Disability Rights Legal Center
          Gay-Straight Alliance Network

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          InnerCity Struggle
          Legal Advocates for Children & Youth
          National Center for Youth Law
          Northern California Association of Counsel for Children
          PolicyLink
          Restorative Schools Vision Project
          Youth & Education Law Project, Mills Legal Clinic
          Youth Justice Coalition
          Youth Law Center


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author, "Research 
          shows that the approaches that work best for addressing 
          attendance and truancy involve parents, community, schools, 
          and counselors first and foremost and law enforcement only 
          for extreme cases and as the very last resort.  In 
          addition, research shows that involving children in the 
          Juvenile Court system, as a means for addressing school 
          attendance issues, actually makes it as much as four times 
          more likely that they will drop out of school, which of 
          course, runs counter to the purpose of any approach to 
          reengage a student in school and improve their attendance."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/30/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth 
            Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, 
            Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, 
            Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, 
            Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, 
            Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, 
            Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner, 
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Fletcher, Gorell, Valadao


          PQ:n  8/8/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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