BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2141
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2141 (Hall and Bonta)
As Amended August 18, 2014
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |70-1 |(May 28, 2014) |SENATE: |33-0 |(August 25, |
| | | | | |2014) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Requires a state or local agency conducting a
truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's
parent or legal guardian to provide the outcome of each referral
to the agency that made a referral. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related
mediation or prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's parent or legal
guardian to use the most cost-effective method possible,
including, but not limited to, by electronic mail or
telephone, to make the report to the school district, school
attendance review board (SARB), county superintendent of
schools, probation department, or any other agency that
referred a truancy-related mediation, criminal complaint, or
petition with the outcome of each referral.
2)Specifies that for the purposes of this bill, "outcome" means
the imposed conditions or terms placed on a pupil or a pupil's
parent or legal guardian, and the acts or actions taken by a
state or local authority with respect to a truancy-related
mediation, prosecution, criminal complaint, or petition.
3)Specifies that the requirements pursuant to this bill apply to
referrals made pursuant to compulsory education and child
welfare laws specified in the Education Code, Penal Code and
Welfare and Institutions Code.
4)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to determine the best
evidence-based practices to reduce truancy. Specifies that
nothing in this bill is intended to encourage additional
referrals, complaints, petitions, or prosecutions, or to
encourage more serious sanctions for pupils.
The Senate amendments specify that "outcome" also means the
AB 2141
Page 2
imposed conditions or term placed on a pupil or a pupil's parent
or legal guardian, and strike the provision requiring a state or
local agency conducting a truancy-related mediation or
prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's parent or legal guardian to
provide the Attorney General with specified information upon his
or her request.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potentially significant reimbursable mandate,
potentially in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars
annually, on local prosecuting agencies and local agencies that
conduct truancy-related mediation to communicate the outcome of
any referral to the referring entity.
COMMENTS : California's compulsory education law requires all
students between the ages of six and 18 to attend school
full-time and requires their parents and legal guardians to be
responsible for ensuring that children attend school. In
2011-12, the California Department of Education reported a
truancy rate of 28.5%, down from 29.76% in 2010-11; with 1.829
million students out of a total enrollment of 6.2 million
considered truants.
A student 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, is considered a truant. Parents or legal guardians are
notified when their children has been classified as a truant and
are provided specified information, including a reminder of
their obligation to compel the attendance of pupils at school,
that parents or legal guardians who fail to meet this obligation
may be guilty of an infraction and subject to prosecution, that
alternative educational programs are available, and that the
parents or the legal guardians have the right to meet with
appropriate school personnel to discuss solutions to the pupil's
truancy.
Existing law specifies actions that may or shall be undertaken
each time a truancy report is required. Existing law authorizes
a peace officer to give a written warning upon a first truancy
report. The record of the warning is kept for two years and may
be transferred to a new school if the pupil changes school.
Upon a pupil's third truancy in a school year and after a school
AB 2141
Page 3
or district personnel has made a conscientious effort to meet
with the parent and pupil, a pupil is classified as a habitual
truant and may be referred to a SARB or to the local probation
officer. A SARB can be formed by a county office of education,
a school district, or by two or more school districts, and can
be comprised of representatives of school districts, county
social services agencies, and law enforcement agencies. SARBs
were devised to address pupil attendance and behavioral problems
by investigating the reasons for the problems and referring
students and/or parents or guardians to community or social
services or to law enforcement, if necessary. SARBs may also
refer a pupil to a truancy mediation program, whereby the
district attorney or the probation officer may notify the
parents or guardians that they may be subject to prosecution for
failure to compel the pupil to attend school, or request the
pupil and his or her parents or guardians to attend a meeting at
the district attorney's office or at the probation department.
A fourth truancy puts the pupil within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court and may deem the pupil a ward of the court. If
the pupil is adjudged a ward of the court, the pupil may be
required to do court-approved community service, attend a
court-approved truancy prevention program, have his or her
driving privileges suspended or revoked, and/or pay a fine of
$100. Parents or legal guardians in charge of any pupil who
fails to compel a pupil to attend school is guilty of an
infraction and may be fined between $100 and $500 based upon the
number of convictions. Under the Penal Code, a parent or
guardian of a pupil of in kindergarten through grade eight and
who is subject to compulsory education, whose child is a chronic
truant, who has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the
pupil's school attendance, and who has been offered
language-accessible support services to address the pupil's
truancy is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not
exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. A
parent or guardian guilty of a misdemeanor may participate in
the deferred entry of judgment program.
This bill is part of a package of truancy-related bills
sponsored by Attorney General (AG) Kamala Harris. Last fall,
the AG's office released a report titled, In School and On Track
on truancy of elementary school kids. Calling it a crisis, the
AG argues that truancy at the elementary level has negative
impacts on the students, who are more likely to drop out of high
AB 2141
Page 4
school; on public safety, when students become more likely to
become involved with gangs, substance abuse, and incarceration;
on school districts, who lose attendance dollars; and on the
economy, due to lost economic productivity and revenues. In the
course of conducting the report, the AG found that attendance,
truancy, and SARB data were not readily available.
Consequently, several of the bills sponsored by the AG,
including this bill, focus on data collection.
This bill focuses on getting information on cases that have been
referred to state or local agencies conducting a truancy-related
mediation or prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's parent or legal
guardian (law enforcement agencies). Specifically, this bill
requires state or local agencies to report the outcome of each
referral to the referring agency, which could include the school
district, SARB, county superintendent of schools, probation
department, or any other agency that made the referral, using
the most cost-effective method (e.g., by electronic mail or
telephone).
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004908