ACR 149, as amended, Weber. School Attendance Awareness Month.
This measure would designate the month of September 2014 as School Attendance Awareness Month, and would encourage public officials, educators, and communities in California to observe the month with appropriate activities and programs.
Fiscal committee: no.
P2 1WHEREAS, The Legislature and the Governor enacted a local
2control funding formula and clearly established school attendance
3as a matter of great state interest by explicitly identifying pupil
4engagement, as measured by school attendance and chronic
5absenteeism rates, as a state priority; and
6WHEREAS, The Legislature first enacted Senate Bill 1357 of
7the 2009-10 Regular Session to establish the definition of a
8“chronic absentee” as a pupil who misses 10 percent or more of
9school for any reason, making no distinction between excused and
10unexcused absences; and
11WHEREAS, For the first time, every county office of education,
12school district, and charter school in California is required to
13calculate chronic absenteeism rates and establish specific goals
14and actions to improve pupil engagement; and
15WHEREAS, The impact of chronic absenteeism hits low-income
16pupils and children of color particularly hard if they do not have
17the resources to make up for lost time in the classroom.
18Low-income pupils and children of color are more likely to face
19systemic barriers in getting to school, including unreliable
20transportation, lack of access to health care, unstable or
21unaffordable housing, and even unfair discipline policies; and
22WHEREAS, Improving school climate, reducing instruction
23missed due to discipline policies and out-of-school suspensions,
24and implementing schoolwide positive behavior intervention and
25support systems and restorative justice practices can have a
26significant impact on improving attendance; and
27WHEREAS, School attendance improves, and chronic
28absenteeism is significantly reduced, when schools, parents, and
29communities work together to monitor and promote good
30attendance and address hurdles that keep children from getting to
31school; and
32WHEREAS, Schools and school districts must do more to track,
33calculate, and share data on how many and which pupils are
34chronically absent so that schools and communities can work to
35deliver the right interventions for the right pupils; and
36WHEREAS, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
37Torlakson, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Secretary of
38California Health and Human Services Diane Dooley, Chief Justice
39Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, and others have joined efforts to combat
40chronic absenteeism to encourage state and local action to improve
P3 1the overall health, safety, and well-being of our children by
2promoting public awareness and reforms that improve school
3attendance; now, therefore, be it
4Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
5thereof concurring, That the Legislature designates the month of
6September 2014 as School Attendance Awareness Month in the
7State of California, and encourages public officials, educators, and
8communities in California to observe the month with appropriate
9activities and programs; and be it further
10Resolved, That the Legislature hereby joins with other
11communities across our nation to increase awareness of the
12importance of school attendance by addressing school attendance
13barriers and the root causes of chronic absence; and be it further
14Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
15of this resolution to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the
16Attorney General, the Secretary of California Health and Human
17Services, the Chief Justice of California, the author, and the
18coauthors for appropriate distribution.
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