BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2616
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2616 (Carter)
As Amended May 9, 2012
Majority vote
EDUCATION 10-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Buchanan, Carter, Eng, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Grove, Halderman, Wagner, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Williams | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Ammiano, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes several changes to the provisions governing
truancy. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that for purposes of the truancy provisions, a valid
excuse includes, but is not limited to, the reasons for which
a pupil shall be excused from school, and may include 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.
2)Revises the provision governing the first time a truancy
report is issued. Specifies that the pupil and, as
appropriate, the parent, may 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. Strikes the provision
that a pupil may be given a written warning by a peace officer
the first time a truancy report is issued.
3)Revises the provision governing the second time a truancy
report is issued. Provides that in addition to being assigned
by the school to an afterschool or weekend study program, the
pupil may be given a written warning by a 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
AB 2616
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transfers from that school, the record may be forwarded to the
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.
4)Authorizes, rather than requires, that upon a fourth time a
truancy is issued within the same school year, the pupil to be
referred to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court that may
adjudge the pupil to be a ward of the court.
5)Lowers a fine associated with a fourth truancy, if the pupil
is adjudged a ward of the court, from $100 dollars to $50
dollars, for which a parent or legal guardian of the pupil may
be jointly liable. Specifies that the fine shall not be
subject to state penalties specified under Penal Code Section
1464.
6)Adds "legal" before all references to "guardian."
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, General Fund/Proposition 98 pressure, likely less
than $1 million, to school districts to comply with the
parent/guardian's request to attend a meeting with a counselor,
upon receipt of the first truancy report. Potential,
indeterminate unknown General Fund savings, likely in the tens
of thousands, to the court system to repeal the mandate that a
pupil be under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court upon his or
her fourth truancy report within the same school year.
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 their children attend school.
This bill makes several changes to the truancy laws. In
2010-11, the California Department of Education (CDE) reported a
truancy rate of 29.76%; 1.837 million students out of a total
enrollment of 6.2 million were considered truants.
A student who is absent from school without a valid excuse three
full days in one school year or is 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. This bill clarifies that a
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"valid excuse" includes, but is not limited to, the excused
absences authorized in existing law (e.g., illness, doctor and
dental appointments of the pupil or the pupil's child, attending
funeral services of a member of his or her immediate family),
and may include other reasons within the discretion of school
administrators. The sponsor of the bill, Public Counsel, states
that administrators should have more discretion to take into
consideration circumstances that may have caused a pupil to be
absent or late - for example, a pupil takes public
transportation to school and the bus is late.
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 parent or the
legal guardian has 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 pupil to receive a written warning by a peace officer 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. This bill authorizes, instead, the pupil and
the parent to meet with the school counselor or other school
staff to discuss the root causes of the attendance issue and
develop a joint plan to improve attendance upon a first truancy
report. The truancy laws were devised as a way to keep students
in school. This provision of the bill is consistent with the
goal of a series of bills that have been introduced this year
attempting to reduce punitive disciplinary measures and focus
instead on alternative ways to keep a student in school. Under
this bill, the written warning by a peace officer current
authorized for a first truancy report is an authorized
consequence upon a second truancy report.
Upon a pupil's third truancy in a school year, a pupil is
classified as a habitual truant and may be referred to a school
attendance review board (SARB) or to the local probation
officer. A fourth truancy puts the pupil within the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court and may deem the pupil a ward
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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. This bill makes it permissive to refer the pupil to
the juvenile court, reduces the fine to $50, and prohibits the
fine to be subjected to additional state penalties for all
criminal offenses specified in Penal Code Section 1464.
According to the sponsor, "there are situations where a school
could find that sending the child into the juvenile justice
system would not be of benefit to the child, particularly given
the research showing that children with juvenile court
involvement are as much as 4 times more likely to drop out of
schools. In fact, juvenile court involvement could further
exacerbate the attendance issues, particularly given the time
required for the young person and his or her family to go to
Court and the lack of resources that the Courts often have to
assist with any underlying problems related mental health,
special education, disability, and poverty. Generally, as the
American Psychological Association and others have found, rather
than serving as a "wake-up call," aggressive criminal justice
centered policies in and around schools are more likely to cause
students to feel alienated from the educational system, causing
further disengagement. Moreover, if the Court determines that
incarceration is the appropriate response, our juvenile court
schools, according to at least one measure from CDE's DATAQUEST,
have a four year adjusted derived dropout rate of 98.7%, which
is obviously contrary to the intended goal of increasing
attendance and moving students closer to school success."
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| | Existing law | AB 2616 |
| | | |
|---------------+-----------------------------+--------------------------|
|First truancy |The pupil may be given a |The pupil, and, as |
|report |written warning by a peace |appropriate, the parent |
| |officer. |or legal guardian may be |
| | |requested to attend a |
| | |meeting with a school |
| | |staff to discuss the root |
| | |causes of the attendance |
| | |issue and develop a joint |
AB 2616
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| | |plan to improve the |
| | |pupil's attendance. |
|---------------+-----------------------------+--------------------------|
|Second truancy |The pupil may be assigned to |The pupil may be given a |
|report |an afterschool or weekend |written warning by a |
| |study program. |peace officer, and may be |
| | |assigned to an |
| | |afterschool or weekend |
| | |study program. |
|---------------+-----------------------------+--------------------------|
|Third truancy |The pupil shall be |No change. |
|report |classified as a habitual | |
| |truant and may be referred | |
| |to a SARB or a truancy | |
| |mediation program. | |
|---------------+-----------------------------+--------------------------|
|Fourth truancy |Requires the pupil to be |Makes it permissive to |
|report |referred to the juvenile |refer a pupil to juvenile |
| |court which may adjudge the |court. Reduces the fine |
| |pupil to be a ward of the |to $50 and prohibits the |
| |court. The pupil shall be |fine to be subjected to |
| |required to do one or more |state penalties. |
| |of the following: community | |
| |service, attend a | |
| |court-approved truancy | |
| |prevention program, have his | |
| |or her driving privileges | |
| |suspended or revoked, and/or | |
| |pay a fine of not more than | |
| |$100. | |
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Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003891