BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 240
AUTHOR: Rubio
AMENDED: May 4, 2011
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: May 11, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Truancy: Collective Action.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits a parent whose child is chronically
truant from being prosecuted if the absences are due to a
collective action.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
Chronic Truant :
1) 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 the steps in # 4-10
are first taken to address the pupil's absences.
(Education Code � 48263.6)
2) Provides that a parent of a pupil in grades K-8 is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to
$2,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one
year, or by both the fine and imprisonment if the
parent:
a) Has a child who is a chronic truant.
b) Has failed to reasonably supervise and
encourage the pupil's school attendance.
c) Has been offered language accessible support
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services to address the pupil's truancy.
A superior court is authorized to establish a deferred
entry of judgment program, as specified, to adjudicate
cases involving parents of elementary school pupils
who are chronic truants. (Penal Code � 270.1)
Compulsory Education :
3) Provides that each person between the ages of 6 and 18
years is subject to compulsory full-time education and
requires attendance at the public full-time day school
or continuation school or classes. Current law
requires each parent, guardian or other person having
control or charge of the pupil to send the pupil to
school for the full schoolday.
(Education Code � 48200)
Truant and Habitual Truant :
4) 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. (EC � 48260)
5) Requires a truant to be reported to the attendance
supervisor or to the superintendent of the school
district. (EC � 48260)
6) 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.
(Education Code � 48260.5)
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7) 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 as a truant to the attendance supervisor or
district superintendent. (EC � 48261)
8) 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)
9) Authorizes a habitually truant pupil to be referred to
a school attendance review board (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 shall be 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. (EC �
48263)
10) Requires school districts to make a full and impartial
investigation of a complaint against a parent for
violations of truancy laws. If the district
determines that there have been violations of truancy
laws, the district is authorized to refer the person
to a SARB. The SARB is required to direct the school
district to file a criminal complaint against the
parent in the event the person continually and
willfully fails to respond to directives of the SARB.
School districts are required to see that the charge
is prosecuted by the proper authority, and requires a
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person making a decision not to prosecute to provide
the SARB with a written explanation for this decision.
(EC � 48291)
11) Establishes a truancy mediation program whereby the
district attorney or probation officer may request the
parents and the pupil attend a meeting to discuss the
possible legal consequences of the child's truancy.
(EC � 48260.6 and 48263.5)
12) Authorizes schools to require any minor who is
reported as a truant to attend makeup classes during
the weekend and provides that truants are subject to
the following:
a) The pupil may be given a written warning by
a peace officer the first time a truancy report
is required.
b) The pupil may be assigned by the school to
an afterschool or weekend study program upon the
second truancy report.
c) The pupil shall be classified a habitual
truant and may be referred to, and required to
attend, an attendance review board or a truancy
mediation program upon the third truancy report.
d) The pupil shall be within the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the
pupil to be a ward of the court upon the fourth
truancy report. (EC � 48264.5)
1) Provides that any parent, guardian, or other person
having control or charge of any pupil who fails to
meet compulsory education requirements is guilty of an
infraction, and requires the following:
a) A fine of up to $100 upon a first
conviction.
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b) A fine of up to $250 upon a second
conviction.
c) A fine of up to $500 upon a third or
subsequent conviction, if the person has
willfully refused to comply. In lieu of imposing
the fines, the court may order the person to be
placed in a parent education and counseling
program.
The court is authorized to also order a convicted
person to immediately enroll or reenroll the pupil in
the appropriate school or educational program and
provide proof of enrollment to the court. Willful
violation of an order is punishable as civil contempt
with a fine of up to $1,000.
(EC � 48293)
ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits a parent whose child is chronically
truant from being prosecuted if the absences are due to a
collective action. Specifically, this bill:
1) Prohibits a parent from being subject to prosecution
under new misdemeanor penalties related to chronic
truancy because of an absence of the pupil due to a
collective action.
2) Defines a "collective action" as an action in which
the parents of a majority of the pupils enrolled in a
grade level at a public elementary, middle or
secondary school withhold their children from
attendance at that school because of a grievance these
parents, pupils or other members of the school
community are presenting to the administration of the
school or school district relating to the alleged
failure to provide pupils with educational opportunity
including but not limited to failure to provide:
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a) Translated documents, pursuant to
the existing requirement that all notices,
reports, statements or records be provided in the
primary language if at least 15% of the pupils in
a school speak a single primary language other
than English.
b) Highly qualified teachers and a
consistent and stable teaching force.
c) Sufficient textbooks or
instructional materials as defined in current
law.
d) Facilities maintained in good
repair as defined in current law.
3) Establishes that a collective action begins 3 days
after a petition is presented to the principal of the
school, the schoolsite council and the secretary or
presiding officer of the district governing board,
stating the grounds for the grievance and signed by
the parents of a majority of the pupils enrolled in a
grade level at the school. Provides that presentation
of the petition must be by delivery, during regular
business hours, of an original or copy of the petition
to the school office and by delivery to the district
office.
4) Deems a petition valid if, within 24 hours of the
presentation of the petition, the presiding officer of
the school district governing board does not contest
the validity of the petition. A petition may be
contested only if it can be shown that less than a
majority of parents signed the petition or if the
petition is presented for a grievance other than for
failure to provide educational opportunity.
5) Deems an absence of a pupil due to a collective
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action, beginning 3 days after the submission of a
petition, as an excused absence, but only for pupils
whose parents have signed the petition.
6) Prohibits the absence from being counted in
determining whether a pupil is a truant.
7) Requires a collective action to conclude on the date
that the parents sign an agreement stating that the
grievance has been addressed to their satisfaction, or
on the 30th day after the collective action began,
whichever occurs first. A collective action shall not
begin if the parents sign an agreement stating the
grievance has been addressed to their satisfaction
within 3 schooldays after the petition is presented.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Purpose of the bill . According to the author, "The
site administration, district administrators and
elected board of trustees of a school district ignored
parent's requests to improve a specific safety issue
at one school and a negative social/emotional climate
at several of the other district schools. Though a
majority of parents collected signatures, gathered at
the board meetings and approached site administrators
with their issues, they were ignored, denied
translation services at board meetings, and
disregarded by district officials. The only action
left was to remove their children from school with the
threat of criminal prosecution under current truancy
laws."
2) How many absences ? Most schools used to provide 180
days of instruction but many now operate for 175 days
due to budget reductions (which is allowed under two
separate provisions of current law). Assuming a
school provides 175 days of instruction, a pupil would
have at least 17.5 unexcused absences before he or she
may be deemed a chronic truant. Current law defines a
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habitual truant as a pupil who has at least five
unexcused absences.
This bill provides that a collective action is to conclude
on the date that the parents sign an agreement stating
that the grievance has been addressed to their
satisfaction, or on the 30th day after the collective
action began, whichever occurs first. This bill
allows parents to keep their children out of school
for up to one month (about 20 schooldays) without fear
of prosecution for a misdemeanor. However, parents
could still be subject to an infraction and fines
under existing truancy laws.
This bill provides that absences due to a collective action
are excused absences. A pupil may be deemed a chronic
truant, and a parent of a chronic truant may be
prosecuted, based on unexcused absences. It appears
unnecessary to both provide immunity from prosecution
and allow absences due to a collective action to be
deemed excused absences.
Absences, whether excused or unexcused, do not "count" for
purposes of generating average daily attendance
funding.
3) Existing options . As discussed above, this bill would
allow a parent to keep his or her child out of school
for at least 17.5 days of school without being subject
to prosecution under chronic truancy provisions.
There are many existing options for parents to settle
disputes and be involved in decision-making while
pupils remain engaged in an educational program,
including participation on the schoolsite council,
local parent teacher association, and enactment of
parent empowerment provisions. Additionally, there
are many existing free public educational options,
such as other schools via districts of choice or open
enrollment, charter schools, independent study, and
homeschooling.
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While parents may feel frustrated with a lack of resolution
to complaints pupils should always have access to an
instructional program. Could the problems that are
addressed by this bill be resolved through means other
than keeping children out of school?
4) Process to get to point of prosecution . Current law
requires that, before a pupil may be classified as a
chronic truant, the pupil first is classified as a
truant, the parent is notified, the pupil is
classified as a habitual truant, and the school
considers referring the pupil to a school attendance
review board (SARB) or the probation department.
This bill would allow parents to avoid prosecution under
misdemeanor provisions but would not protect parents
from potential prosecution for an infraction. It is
not clear whether parents who may be affected by this
bill have been referred to a SARB or probation
department. It is also unclear whether prosecution
against parents has been initiated pursuant to the new
misdemeanor chronic truancy laws (SB 1317, Leno, Ch.
647, 2010).
5) Scope of collective action . This bill defines a
collective action as a grievance relating to the
alleged failure to provide pupils with educational
opportunity, including but not limited to, failure to
provide translated documents, facilities in good
repair, sufficient instructional materials, or highly
qualified teachers and a consistent and stable
teaching force. These deficiencies have been the
basis of several lawsuits against the state and
specific school districts: The Williams lawsuit
resulted in increased funding to schools and
monitoring of certain schools by the county
superintendent of schools to ensure, among other
things, pupils are provided with sufficient
instructional materials and have access to clean and
functioning restrooms. A recent lawsuit against the
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Los Angeles Unified School District and the State
(Reed v. State of California) resulted in protection
from teacher layoffs at certain schools that are
suffering from high teacher turnover and low pupil
achievement.
School districts do not receive average daily attendance
funding when pupils are absent. Is the best approach
to keep children out of school and thereby reduce
funding for schools in order to resolve a grievance?
Could schools instead use those funds to address the
grievance?
6) Validity of the petition . This bill provides that a
petition is deemed valid if, within 24 hours of the
presentation of the petition, the presiding officer of
the district governing board does not contest the
validity of the petition. This could be problematic
if a petition was to be submitted on a Friday or the
day before a holiday; additionally, district board
members typically work outside of the school district
office and may not immediately be available to receive
a petition.
7) Related legislation . SB 477 (Wright) requires school
districts to adopt a policy specifying the time period
for notifying a parent when a pupil is initially
classified as a truant. SB 477 is pending in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
None on file.
OPPOSITION
Association of California School Administrators
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