BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2141|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2141
Author: Hall (D) and Bonta (D), et al.
Amended: 8/18/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/18/14
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Huff, Monning
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, De Le�n, Knight, Liu, Mitchell,
Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-1, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pupil attendance: truancy: referrals for
prosecution
SOURCE : Attorney General Kamala D. Harris
DIGEST : This bill requires a state or local agency conducting
a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student or parent
for a truancy-related matter to provide the outcome of the case
to the referring agency.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
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Truancy
1.Defines a truant as a student who is absent for three full
days, or tardy or absent for more than a 30-minute period on
three occasions, without a valid excuse in one school year.
2.Authorizes a school district in a county that does not have a
school attendance review board (SARB) to notify the county
district attorney or probation officer, and authorizes those
entities to notify the parents of every truant that they may
be subject to prosecution for failure to compel the attendance
of the student.
3.Authorizes notification to the county district attorney or
probation officer (in a county without a SARB) and authorizes
those agencies to request the parents and the student attend a
meeting to discuss the possible legal consequences of the
student's truancy. This is known as truancy mediation.
Habitual truancy
1.Defines a habitual truant as a student who has been reported
as a truant three or more times per school year (absent or
tardy without an excuse for at least five days).
2.Authorizes the school district to refer the student to, and
requires the student to attend, a SARB or a truancy mediation
program. The student may be within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court if the student does not successfully complete
the truancy mediation program.
School attendance review boards
1.Authorizes, but does not require, a county and/or local SARB
to be established. SARB membership must include parents,
school districts, county probation, county welfare, county
superintendent of schools, law enforcement, community-based
youth services, and personnel representing school guidance,
child welfare and attendance, school or county health care,
and mental health.
Prosecution of parents
1.Requires schools to refer a parent who does not ensure their
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student attends school as required by compulsory education
laws to a SARB. Current law requires the SARB, if the parent
fails to respond to directives or services, to direct the
school district to file a criminal complaint.
2.Provides that any parent who fails to comply with compulsory
education laws is guilty of an infraction.
Data collection and reporting
1.Requires the Annual Report on Dropouts in California to
include, when data is available, truancy rates and chronic
absentee rates.
2.Requires local control accountability plans to include
information addressing specific state priorities, including
student engagement as measured by school attendance rates,
chronic absenteeism rates, dropout rates and graduation rates.
3.Requires school districts to gather and transmit to the county
superintendent of schools the number and types of referrals to
school attendance review boards and of requests for petitions
to the juvenile court.
4.Requires, contingent upon federal funding, the California
Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CalPADS) to
support local educational agencies (LEAs) in their efforts to
identify and support students at risk of dropping out and be
capable of issuing to LEAs periodic reports that include
district, school, class and individual student reports on
rates of absence and chronic absentees. Reporting student
attendance and chronic absentee data for CalPADS is voluntary.
This bill:
1.Requires a state or local agency conducting a truancy-related
mediation or prosecuting a student or parent to provide the
outcome of each referral to the school district, school
attendance review board, county superintendent of schools,
probation department, or any other agency that referred a
truancy-related mediation, criminal complaint, or petition.
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2.Defines "outcome" as 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.Provides that state and local agencies are to use the most
cost-effective method possible including by electronic mail or
telephone.
4.States legislative intent to determine the best evidence-based
practices to reduce truancy, and that this bill is not
intended to encourage additional referrals, complaints,
petitions, or prosecutions, or to encourage more serious
sanctions for students.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
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.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/14)
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris (source)
AFSCME
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley
Association of Black Correctional Workers
California Department of Education, Superintendent of Public
Instruction Tom
Torlakson
California Federation of Teachers
California State PTA
Continuing the Dream
Fresno Unified School District
Glendale Unified School District
Lawndale Elementary School District
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey
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Los Angeles Unified School District
San Francisco City and County District Attorney George Gascon
SARB and Associates
SEIU California
Special Needs Network
Stockton Unified School District
Tulare City School District
YMCA of San Francisco
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/18/14)
Black Parallel School Board
Public Counsel
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "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.
"By improving the ability for state and local agencies to work
together, AB 2141 will help prioritize truancy reduction
programs with successful outcomes and better develop truancy
intervention and prevention strategies that keep children off
the street and in the classroom."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Public Counsel states in opposition
that "AB 2141 would mandate that a state or local authority
conducting a truancy-related mediation or prosecuting a student
or a student's parent/legal guardian provide the 'outcome of
each referral' to the student's school district; school
attendance review board; county superintendent of schools;
probation department; any other agency that referred a
truancy-related mediation, criminal complaint, or petition; and
the Attorney General upon request. 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 students and
parents/legal guardians and forcing more young people into the
juvenile justice system, an outcome which will increase
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students' likelihood of dropout."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-1, 5/28/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Beth Gaines, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman,
Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Ch�vez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Donnelly, Frazier, Linder, Mansoor,
Melendez, Olsen, Patterson, Vacancy
PQ:nl 8/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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