BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                             2011-12 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       SB 477
          AUTHOR:        Wright
          AMENDED:       April 26, 2011
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  May 4, 2011
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber &
                                                       Beth Graybill

           SUBJECT  :  Parental Notice of Truancy
          
           SUMMARY   

          This bill requires school districts to establish a policy 
          specifying the time period for notifying a parent when a 
          pupil is initially classified as a truant.

           BACKGROUND
           
          Current law:

          1)   Defines a truant as a pupil subject to compulsory 
               full-time education who is absent without valid excuses 
               three full days in one school year, or tardy or absent 
               for more than any 30-minute period on three occasions, 
               or any combination.  (Education Code § 48260)

          2)   Requires a truant to be reported to the attendance 
               supervisor or to the superintendent of the school 
               district.  (EC § 48260)

          3)   Requires the school district to notify the pupil's 
               parent, using the most cost-effective method possible, 
               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.  (EC § 
               48260.5)

          4)   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 






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               as a truant to the attendance supervisor or district 
               superintendent.  (EC § 48261)

          5)   Defines a "habitual truant" as any pupil who has been 
               reported as a truant three or more times per school year 
               (absent or tardy at least 5 days).  A pupil may not be 
               deemed habitually truant unless 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.  
               (EC § 48262)

          6)   Defines a "chronic truant" as any pupil who is absent 
               from school without a valid excuse for 10% or more of 
               the schooldays in one school year.  A pupil may not be 
               deemed chronically truant unless specific steps are 
               first taken to address the pupil's absences.  (EC § 
               48263.6)

           ANALYSIS
           
           This bill  requires school districts to establish a policy 
          specifying the time period for notifying a parent when a 
          pupil is initially classified as a truant.  

           STAFF COMMENTS
           
           1)   Need for the bill  :  According to the author, because 
               current law does not specify when the notice must be 
               provided, parents and guardians are not always notified 
               in a timely manner, which decreases their ability to 
               intervene and prevent further absences.  Research shows 
               that pupils who are habitually truant are at greater 
               risk of dropping out of school than students who attend 
               school regularly.  The author hopes that requiring 
               school districts to have a policy about when the 
               notification is sent to parents will allow for earlier 
               intervention and give at-risk students a greater chance 
               for success.  

           2)   Truancy notification mandate  .  The Legislative Analyst's 
               Office (LAO) has recommended eliminating mandates that 
               do not serve a fundamental purpose and notes that 
               truancy mandates exemplify requirements that should be 
               eliminated.  The LAO has suggested elimination of the 






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               Notification of Truancy mandate not only because it does 
               not substantively increase parent involvement or reduce 
               dropouts, but also because the federal No Child Left 
               Behind Act requires districts to develop extensive 
               policies for increasing parental involvement.  This 
               federal requirement directly targets students at risk of 
               dropping out of school.  Since local educational 
               agencies lose revenue when students have unexcused 
               absences, it could also be argued that districts have an 
               incentive to work with families and students to curb 
               truancy and improve attendance.  

          Pursuant to AB 1610 (Assembly Budget Committee, Chapter 724, 
               2010) the LAO has convened work group to consider the 
               future of the state's K-14 mandates and to develop 
               recommendations regarding the treatment of those 
               mandates.  Recommendations from this work group are 
               expected to be presented to the Budget Committees in the 
               near future.

           3)   Previous legislation  .  AB 1610 (Committee on Budget, Ch. 
               724, 2010) limited the state mandate costs for the 
               existing truancy notification mandate, by requiring 
               school districts to provide the truancy notification 
               using the most cost-effective method possible rather 
               than requiring the notice be sent by mail.  

                

                
               AB 1446 (DeSaulnier, 2008) would have required school 
               districts, upon a pupil's initial classification as a 
               truant, to provide the required parental notification 
               within 10 school days.  AB 1446 was held on the Senate 
               Appropriations Committee's suspense file.  

           SUPPORT
           
          None received.

           OPPOSITION
           
          None received.









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