BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2141
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Date of Hearing: March 26, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 2141 (Hall and Bonta) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
SUBJECT : Pupil attendance: truancy: referrals for prosecution
SUMMARY : Requires a state or local authority 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 authority 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 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.
3)Requires a state or local authority conducting a
truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's
parent or legal guardian to, upon request, provide the
Attorney General with the outcome of each referral in
anonymized format.
4)Requires a school district, SARB, probation department, or any
other agency that refers a truancy-related mediation, a
criminal complaint, or petition for prosecution to, at the end
of each school year, provide the county superintendent of
schools with a report regarding the information it receives
pursuant to this bill.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years,
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not otherwise exempted, be subject to compulsory full-time
education and attend the public full-time day school or
continuation school or classes in which their parent or
guardian resides, and that each parent, guardian or other
person having control or charge of the pupil ensure that
pupils enrollment and attendance. (Education Code (EC)
Section 48200)
2)Defines a "truant" as any pupil subject to compulsory
full-time education or to compulsory continuation education
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. (EC Section 48260)
3)Requires a school district, upon a pupil's initial
classification as a truant, to notify the pupil's parent or
guardian that:
a) The pupil is:
i) Truant.
ii) May be subject to prosecution.
iii) May be subject to suspension, restriction, or delay
of the pupil's driving privilege.
b) The parent or guardian:
i) Is obligated to compel the attendance of the pupil
at school.
ii) May be guilty of an infraction and subject to
prosecution, if they fail to meet this obligation.
iii) Has the right to meet with appropriate school
personnel to discuss solutions to the pupil's truancy.
c) Alternative educational programs are available in the
district.
d) It is recommended that the parent or guardian accompany
the pupil to school and attend classes with the pupil for
one day. (EC Section 48260.5)
4)Specifies that the first time a truancy report is required,
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the pupil may be personally given a written warning by any
peace officer specified in Section 830.1 of the Penal Code. 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
transfers, the record may be forwarded to any 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.
(EC Section 48264.5)
5)Specifies that the second time a truancy report is required
within the same school year, the pupil may be assigned by the
school to an afterschool or weekend study program located
within the same county as the pupil's school. If the pupil
fails to successfully complete the assigned study program, the
pupil shall be subject to the provisions governing the third
time a truancy report is required. (EC Section 48264.5)
6)Defines a "habitual truant" as any pupil who has been reported
as a truant three or more times per school year, where 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. Specifies that a habitual truant may be
referred to a SARB or a truancy mediation program (EC Section
48262)
7)Defines a "chronic truant" as any pupil subject to compulsory
education who is absent from school without a valid excuse for
10% or more of the schooldays in one school year, from the
date of enrollment to the current date. (EC Section 48263.6)
8)Authorizes a SARB to notify the district attorney or probation
officer, if it is determined that services cannot solve the
problem, or if the pupil and/or parent have failed to respond
to directives. (EC Section 48263.5)
9)Establishes a truancy mediation program, and authorizes the
district attorney or probation officer to request that the
parents and truant pupil attend a meeting to discuss the
possible legal consequences of the child's truancy. (EC
Sections 48260 and 48263.5)
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10) Authorizes the attendance supervisor or his or her
designee, a peace officer, a school administrator or his or
her designee, or a probation officer to arrest or assume
temporary custody, during school hours, of a minor found away
from home and absent from school without a valid excuse. (EC
Section 48264)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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 (CDE) 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
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
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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/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 8 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 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
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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.
AB 2141 focuses on getting information on cases that have been
referred to state or local authorities conducting a
truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a pupil or a pupil's
parent or legal guardian. Specifically, the bill requires state
or local authorities 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).
The entities that receive the information are required, at the
end of each school year, to provide the county superintendent of
schools with a report. The bill also requires state or local
authorities to provide the AG with the information in an
anonymized format upon his or her request.
What types of "outcomes"? It is not clear whether outcome means
the actions taken by the state or local authority or the impact
on the student following the intervention by a state or local
authority. Staff recommends clarifying that "outcomes" means
both the type of actions taken and the impact on students during
the semester or trimester following the referral.
Arguments in support . The authors state, "AB 2141 would enhance
communication regarding truancy cases referred for mediation and
prosecution so that school districts, superintendents, School
Attendance Review Boards, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction and the Attorney General can develop effective
truancy prevention and intervention strategies."
Arguments in opposition . Public Counsel opposes the bill and
states, "We recognize the authors and sponsor are hoping to
collect data about current truancy proceedings. However,
without proper language regarding the intended use for the data
collected and the purposes for its collection, we are concerned
that the bill will have the unintended effect of increasing
prosecutions of student and parents/legal guardians and forcing
more young people into the juvenile justice system, an outcome
which will increase students' likelihood of dropout."
Staff recommends adding intent language to clarify that the
purpose of the bill is to collect information on best practices
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to reduce truancy and not to encourage additional sanctions on
pupils.
Related legislation . AB 1643 (Buchanan), pending in this
Committee, requires the establishment of county SARBs, requires
county SARBs to meet at least four times each year, adds the
county district attorney as a member of county and local SARBs,
and specifies that county and local SARBs shall not convene
without the presence of two-thirds of its members.
AB 1672 (Bradford), scheduled for the March 26th hearing,
requires a school district to report specified information
regarding the district's SARB to the county superintendent of
schools and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. The
bill also requires the county office of education to make the
information available on its Internet Web site.
AB 1866 (Bocanegra), scheduled for the March 26th hearing, adds
truancy-related elements to the pupil attendance data that the
CDE is required to collect and report through the California
Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
SB 1107 (Monning), pending in the Senate, requires the AG to
issue an annual report on elementary school truancy and chronic
absenteeism.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris (sponsor)
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O'Malley
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Association of Black Correctional Workers
Continuing the Dream, California Department of Corrections &
Rehabilitation
District Attorney of Santa Barbara County Joyce E. Dudley
King County Office of Education
King County Superintendent of Schools Tim Bowers
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles Unified School District
Political Clergy Council
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon
Service Employees International Union
Special Needs Network
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Stockton Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Steven
Lowder
Two individuals
Opposition
Public Counsel
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087