Truancy rate in S.F. on the rise

Published: January 30, 2008 | Author: Krystina Orozco
Total Views: 688 | Philippine News

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Unified School District and the District Attorney’s Office are now combining forces to put an end to truancy. Parents of public school children were recently informed of the magnitude of the problem and the reason for the partnership. The letters sent to the parents came with an advice and a warning. The letters said there would be prosecutions of up to one year in county jail with a $2,500 fine for neglectful parents and guardians of truant youths.

“Education is a right. It is paramount to a crime when a child goes without an education,” said District Attorney Kamala Harris at a roundtable discussion held January 22. “It is, therefore, a crime when kids are not in school, a crime that cannot be tolerated any longer.” Within the last four years, 94 percent of homicide victims under the age of 25 were high school dropouts.

“Criminal law experts call chronic school absence the most powerful predictor of juvenile crime, which often leads to adult crime. Research has proved that in any given community, an increase in graduation rates results in a decrease in murder rates,” said an “SFGate” article. Truant school absences are in direct impairment to the future of the youth. It diminishes the opportunity to lead productive lives. A time slot so heavily inefficient is said to be an open invitation to crime.

At school, kids are not only being taught fundamentals, but are being monitored to stay out of trouble as well. Therefore, truancy is highly detrimental to one’s future, as well as to the safety of our community. Defined as an unexcused absence from school without proper consent or permission from the principle or faculty, truancy can be categorized as both habitual and chronic.

According to California state law, children between the ages of 6 and 18 are required to attend school with certain exceptions. If a student skips school for three full days in one school year without valid excuse, he or she is considered truant. Taking it a step further, a student having a total of ten unexcused absences is a “habitual truant” and of the third degree, a “chronic truant” is one who goes above and beyond totaling up to twenty or more unexcused absences.

San Francisco has peaked at its crisis point. The city has one of the highest rates of truancy in California, beating out other major urban areas such as Alameda, Los Angeles, and Contra Costa counties. Slapped with shocking statistical findings, San Francisco schools faced nearly 5,000 habitual or chronic truants as of last year. Of those, 2,500 were as young as elementary school students where the highest truancy was found among kindergarteners.

Diving more into specific trends, the racial background of truant children fell into three categories. Of the top two, 25 percent were African Americans while 33 percent were Hispanics. Asians constituted as 18 percent of the absentees where Filipinos numbered down to 324 children suffering from truancy. Comprehending the magnitude of this problem is only half the battle. The other half is examining its core: why it happens and what we as a society can do, said Harris.

First and foremost, the best way to fix a problem starts with prevention. There are many reasons why a child fails to attend class, mostly all tracing back to the matter at home. A child undergoing a health condition or physical abuse is a common one, said Harris.

It is first detected at school as a form of early intervention, which is another reason why children are needed at school. Truancy also results from the high concern of transportation safety to and from school. Thirdly, a student may dismiss school simply because they’ve assumed the position of caretaking for their younger siblings. Of all the factors to why a child is not at school rests upon the relevancy of their age whether they are in elementary, middle school, or high school.

San Francisco’s diligence in truancy prevention is pushing forward. Not only are felony conviction rates at its highest in a decade, a multi-agency coalition is establishing their foot in the door as well. Along with the district attorney’s office and the school district, the city is contributing their two cents as well, with the San Francisco Police Department faithfully at their assistance. This mediation system of a prosecutor being present at a meeting between school officials and the parents of a truant child will not only symbolize that truancy is a major problem, but will officialize the consequences of the misdemeanor and neglect of a child. Besides one-on-one meetings with parents, there are a dozen workshops, after-school programs, wellness centers, transportation systems, and even down to a stringent wake up call for students and families to find solutions. “The mediation system is like one big family intervention,” says San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia.