Attendance/Truancy
The Los Banos Unified School District School Board believes early identification and cessation of excessive student absences is vital to a school's ability to provide a quality instructional program. Good student attendance enables both students and staff to focus on learning. Identifying the reasons for and attempting to correct a student's excessive absenteeism requires a family, school, and community partnership.
Excused Absences: Illness (including doctors visits); sickness or death of family member relative or close friend; quarantine; necessary appearance in court; observance of religious days (prior approval); Family emergency; Other school allowable absences.
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR TRUANCY
The California compulsory attendance law requires everyone between the ages of 6 and 18 years of age to attend school, except 16 and 17 year old teens who have graduated from high school or passed the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE) and obtained parental permission to leave. [Education Codes 48900, 48400]
School Interventions for Truants; Schools have the responsibility to work with the non attending student and their families to resolve the attendance problems. Interventions include parent conferences, assigning a mentor, adjusting schedule, working with other community agencies, assigning school consequences such as: Saturday School, community service, requesting parents to attend school with child, loss of work permit, loss of eligibility for co-and extra-curricular activities. Student may al so be referred to an alternative program. [Education Codes 48369, 48264.5]
HABITUAL TRUANTS, NON SCHOOL CONSEQUENCES;
Human Services Sanction: Parent of habitual truants receiving public assistance may have their welfare check reduced for each month their child continues to be truant. This is part of the State CalWORKs program. [Welfare & Institution Code 11253.5]
Drivers License Suspension: Any minor under the age of 18 years who is an habitual truant within the meaning of E.C. 48262, or who adjudged by the juvenile court to be a ward of the court under subdivision (b) of Section 601 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, may have his or her driving privilege suspended for one year by the court. If the minor does not yet have the privilege to drive, the court may order the department to delay issuing the privilege to drive for one year subsequent to the time the person becomes legally eligible to drive. [Vehicle code 132202.7]
Truant Referral to Probation Department: If a minor has four or more truancies within one school year and it is determined that the available public and private services are insufficient or inappropriate to correct the habitual truancy of the minor, or to correct the minor's persistent or habitual refusal to obey the reasonable and proper orders or direction of school authorities, the minor is then within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court. [Welfare & Institution code 601b]
Parent Referral to District Attorney-: Any parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any pupil who fails to comply with directives to send their child to school, unless excused or exempted there from, is guilty of an infraction and shall be punished as follows: 1) Upon a conviction, by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100); 2) upon a second conviction, by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) and 3) upon a third or subsequent conviction, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500). [Education Code 48293] When making a District Attorney Referral School shall refer to their district attendance supervisor a summary of the problem, attendance/discipline history, actual attendance records, documentation of all letters/phone calls meetings, corrective action plans, school official available to testify. After review, the complaint will be forwarded to the district attorney's office. [Education Code 48292, 48293]