Santa Monica Police Department
School Resource Officers Program
(310) 458-8474
Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s) attending the Student Attendance Review Board ("SARB"):
Your child has been brought to the attention of the Santa Monica Police Department because of his/her truancy. A "habitual truant" can be issued a traffic ticket, which would then require you and your child to appear before a Judge in Juvenile Traffic Court. It is our hope that the following information will help you and your child understand just how seriously California law, the school district, and the Santa Monica Police Department, regards truancy.
Penalties against parents apply when any parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any student fails to compel the student to attend school. The penalties against parents in EC Section 48293 (a) become progressively severe with a second and third conviction.
Education Code 48260(a) requires a student who is absent more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three times during the school year must be classified as a truant. Further, Education Code 48262 requires that after a student has been reported as a truant three or more times in one school year and after an appropriate school employee has made a conscientious effort to hold at least one meeting with the parent and the student, the student is deemed a habitual truant. Thus, a chronically truant student may be cited by a peace officer, referred to the District Attorney’s office, and have his/her California driver’s permit privilege suspended.
The legal frame work for penalties for parents of truant students is based on the following:
EC Section 48293 (a): Any parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any pupil who fails to comply with this chapter, unless excused or exempted therefrom, is guilty of an infraction and shall be punished as follows:
- Upon a first conviction, by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100).
- Upon a second conviction, by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
- Upon a third or subsequent conviction, if the person has willfully refused to comply with this section, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500). In lieu of the fines prescribed in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), the court may order the person to be placed in a parent education and counseling program.
EC Section 48293 (b): A judgment that a person convicted of an infraction be punished as prescribed in subdivision (a) may also provide for the payment of the fine within a specified time or in specified installments, or for participation in the program. A judgment granting a defendant time to pay the fine or prescribing the days of attendance in a program shall order that if the defendant fails to pay the fine, or any installment thereof, on the date it is due, he or she shall appear in court on that date for further proceedings. Willful violation of this order is punishable as contempt.
EC Section 48293 (c): The court may also order that the person convicted of the violation of subdivision (a) 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 under this subdivision is punishable as civil contempt with a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000). An order of contempt under this subdivision shall not include imprisonment.
The legal framework for truant students is based on the following:
EC Section 48260 (a): Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without a valid excuse three full days or tardy or absent more than any 30-minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof, is a truant and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor or the superintendent of the school district.
Section 48262. Education Code:
Any pupil is deemed a habitual truant who has been reported as a truant three or more times per school year, provided that no pupil shall be deemed an habitual truant unless an appropriate district officer or employee has made a conscientious effort to hold at least one conference with a parent or guardian of the pupil and the pupil himself, after the filing of either of the reports required by Section 48260 or Section 48261.
Section 13202.7. (a) California Vehicle Code
"Any minor under the age of 18 years, but 13 years of age or older, who is a habitual truant within the meaning of Section 48262 of the Education Code, or who is 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."
Section 601. Welfare and Institutions Code
(a) "Any person under the age of 18 years who persistently or habitually refuses to obey the reasonable and proper orders or directions of his or her parents, guardian, or custodian, or who is beyond the control of that person's within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court."
(b) "If a minor has four or more truancies within one school year as defined in Section 48260 of the Education Code, or a school attendance review board or probation officer determines 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 directions of school authorities, or if the minor fails to respond to directives of a school attendance review board or probation officer or to services provided, the minor is then within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court."
Courtesy of the Youth Services Division, Santa Monica Police Department
Timothy J. Jackman
Chief of Police
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