BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1317
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Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1317 (Leno) - As Amended: August 2, 2010
Policy Committee: Public Safety
Vote: 4-1
Education 7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill makes it a misdemeanor for a parent/guardian of a
grades K-12 student subject to compulsory full-time education,
whose child is a chronic truant, and who fails to reasonably
supervise and encourage the pupil's school attendance.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "chronic truant" as any pupil subject to compulsory
full-time education, including continuation education, who is
absent from school without a valid excuse for 10% or more of
the schooldays in one school year, as specified.
2)Specifies the misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not
exceeding $2,000 and/or by up to one year in county jail.
3)Authorizes a parent/guardian convicted of the misdemeanor to
participate in a deferred entry of judgment (DEJ) program, as
specified.
4)Authorizes a superior court to establish a DEJ program that
includes: (a) a dedicated court calendar; (b) leadership by a
judge of the superior court in that county; (c) meetings held
periodically with school district representatives; and (d)
service referrals for parents/guardians, as appropriate,
including case management, parenting classes, substance abuse
treatment, child care, housing, and mental and physical health
services.
5)Requires funding for the DEJ program to be solely from
non-state sources.
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6)Prohibits a parent or guardian of an elementary school pupil
who is a chronic truant from being punished with a violation
of both this measure's requirements and provisions that
involve criminal liability for parents and guardians of truant
children.
FISCAL EFFECT
Moderate ongoing nonreimbursable local law enforcement and
incarceration costs to the extent parents/guardians are
convicted of a misdemeanor pursuant to this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the California Dropout Research Project
(CDRP) August 2009 statistics, "Over the last 10 years, the
annual [dropout] rate has increased from 2.9% to 3.9%, while
the four-year rate has increased from 11.7% to 15.3%." The
report also documents that over the last 10 years, "the number
of high school dropouts in California increased twice as fast
as the number of graduates. And the number of high school
seniors who neither graduated nor dropped out increased by
more than 100%."
According to the author, "Although the Education Code states
that it is a crime for a child to go without an education,
neither the Education Code nor the Penal Code effectively
address the most serious episodes of truancy, those elementary
students that are missing 10% or more of the school year.
Parents are responsible for ensuring their young children get
education and elementary students are too young to get
themselves to school. Failing to educate a child is an issue
of neglect, just like failing to feed or clothe them. [This
bill, sponsored by the San Francisco District Attorney,]
strengthens local jurisdictions' ability to combat chronic
elementary truancy by creating a new Penal Code section under
neglect dedicated specifically to the issue of chronic
elementary school truancy."
2)Existing law requires each person between six and 18 years of
age to attend public, full-time day school and requires his or
her parent/guardian to send them unless legally exempt.
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Current law defines a truant as a pupil missing more than 30
minutes of instruction without an excuse three times during
the school year. Also, statute defines a habitual truant as a
student who has been reported as a truant three or more times
in one school year and an appropriate school employee has made
a conscientious effort to hold at least one meeting with the
parent and the student. In the 2008-09, school districts
reported 1.5 million students, or 24%, as truant.
Statute also requires a school district to notify the
parent/guardian of a truant pupil that the pupil may be
subject to prosecution, suspension, or delay of the pupil's
driving privilege. Also, the district is required to notify
the parent/guardian that he or she is subject to prosecution
and may be guilty of an infraction, if he or she fails to
compel the attendance of his or her pupil. Existing law
specifies that upon the first conviction of the infraction,
there will be a fine of no more than $100 and upon the second
conviction; the fine is not more than $250.
Existing law also establishes a School Attendance and Review
Board (SARB) at the local district or county level. Statute
also authorizes a habitually truant pupil to be referred to
the 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
are 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.
3)F iscal implications of high school dropouts . According to the
CDRP report: The Economic Losses of High School Dropouts in
California (Belfield and Levin, August 2007), California
experiences $46.4 billion in total economic losses from each
cohort of 120,000 20- year-olds who never complete high
school; this is the equivalent of 2.9% of the annual state
gross product. The authors further state that the average high
school graduate earns $290,000 more over a lifetime than a
high school dropout and pays $100,000 more in federal, state,
and local taxes. Likewise, more the two-thirds of high school
dropouts will use food stamps during their working lifetime
and a high school graduate is 68% less likely to be on any
welfare program.
SB 1317
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Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081