San Francisco Schools Cracking Down on Truancy
September 26, 2003
The San Francisco Unified School District has begun to make strident efforts to crack down on perpetually tardy pupils and students who chronically cut class.San Francisco Asian Pacific American high school students, according to an Asian Pacific Fund analysis released last week, had the highest dropout rates among all students when compared to seven Bay Area counties.
Reviewing California Department of Education data, the fund found that APAs represented 28.9 percent of San Francisco high school dropouts in 2002, which was a decline from the 30.0 percent of all dropouts in 1998.
For all seven Bay Area counties, APAs represented 15 percent of dropouts in 2002. In 1998, 18.1 percent of Bay Area dropouts were APA.
In response to the release of a June San Francisco Civil Grand Jury report that paints a grim picture of the district’s truancy problems, schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman is sending a clear message to students and parents alike: Skip class and get caught, and you’ll risk courtroom proceedings, fines and the loss of public-assistance benefits.
Unlike in the past, when issues of truancy and tardiness got lost in the shuffle of day-to-day paperwork and bustle, this year parents can expect a phone call following every instance in which their child is absent from school.
After three consecutive days of unexcused absences, parents will receive a letter requesting that they meet with administrators or enroll their truant child in an alternative educational program, such as a tutoring or after-school project.
After six consecutive days of unexcused absences, the student will be categorized as a “habitual truant” and referred to the SFUSD’s Dropout Prevention Office, which can ask the court system to become involved. The courts can order families to pay fines, among other penalties, for breaking the state’s school-attendance laws.
In addition, families who receive Cal WORKS cash benefits could have that assistance cut if a child is habitually truant.
The beefed-up policy stems from the creation of the Stay-in-School Coalition, which consists of city and school officials, representatives from community-based organizations and members of the San Francisco Police Department. The coalition met throughout the summer to determine how to combat the truancy epidemic reported by the Civil Grand Jury, and, through Ackerman, it recently released its plan of action to the Board of Supervisors.
The coalition’s proposals include appointing a supervisor of attendance, installing computer software that can track truancy districtwide and implementing protocols for staff members who deal with truancy matters.
Supervisor Bevan Dufty held hearings last week on the district’s response.
Inadequate
record-keeping
The Civil Grand Jury reported that out of the SFUSD’s 18,000 high school students, an estimated 5,000 skip at least one school day out of five. On top of that, an additional 5,000 students are consistently tardy.
In the district’s middle schools, out of every 13,000 students, at least 1,000 miss one out of five school days, and out of 30,000 elementary school students, 765 cut at least one in five school days.
The reason for these staggering figures, according to the report, was that the school district failed to keep adequate records of student truancy. The SFUSD also lacked the tools necessary to keep such records in order and lacked uniform procedures for dealing with truancy, the report stated.
The grand jury said that when it visited district schools, it observed a different set of rules for handling truancy at each site. Without a districtwide database available to track truant pupils, enforcement is nearly impossible, the report stated.
SFUSD officials said that while the district had improved its ability to monitor truancy, it was still limited in what it could do.
They cited a dearth of resources as the primary cause of the limitations. Severe budget cuts resulted in the layoff or reassignment of many attendance clerks, and consequently the district could not promptly mail truancy notices to parents, they said.
Dire consequences
Prompting the Civil Grand Jury’s report and the SFUSD’s response were concerns about the dire impact truancy can have on a school district.
Continually truant students tend to rank low on the academic totem pole. Most of them post test scores that place them two grade levels behind their actual grade.
The report drew a strong correlation between truancy, low academic achievement and student behavioral problems and predicted serious ramifications if the district didn’t remedy its truancy problem.
The report warned that with pressure mounting on school districts to prepare students for the California High School Exit Exam, the number of high school seniors earning a diploma could drop significantly.
Even more frightening was the report’s estimate that 98 percent of California prison inmates do not have a high school diploma.
From a financial standpoint as well, truancy is harmful, according to the report, which cited the loss of significant funding opportunities.
“SFUSD is forgoing as much as $10 million annually in state revenue that are based on attendance figures,” the report said.
The possibility of the district’s cashing in on that much money is rather low, however, as daily attendance would have to increase, by 2,200 students per day.
The state Board of Education considers an annual increase of 1 percent a reasonable goal for a school district. For the SFUSD, such an increase would amount to an added 600 students per day and would funnel $2.75 million per year into the district’s budget.
The school district currently receives $4,580 annually for every student who attends school every day in a 180-day school year.
AsianWeek staff contributed to this report.
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