Computer Phones Home in Escondido : War on Truancy Goes High-Tech

Student absences at Orange Glen High School have been cut in half since a computer began snitching on kids who ditch classes.

Every night, the computer places a telephone call to the home of each student who missed one or more periods of class that day.

When the phone is answered, the computer unloads its prerecorded message:

“Hello, this is Dr. Ed Brand, principal of Orange Glen High School, calling to let you know our records indicate your son or daughter was absent for one or more periods of the school day.”

Brand’s voice will then ask the parents to call the school in the morning to confirm the absence, and to send a note to school with the child upon his return.

Last Wednesday, when the so-called phone-home computer was introduced, 113 students had missed one or more periods of class at the high school. The following day, when word got out on campus that the computer was calling home if a student missed even one class, only 60 students missed classes. The next day, the number was down to 50, which has been the average this week as well at the 2,000-student campus.

Traditionally, school office workers have called home during the day to check on the whereabouts of children who are not in class. But in recent years, with the number of households in which both parents work increasing, daytime calls home have gone unanswered.

As a result, Brand says, many parents would not learn about days or classes missed by their children until report cards were issued, sometimes as seldom as every nine weeks.

While some schools hire clerical workers during evening hours to call students’ homes, a growing number of high schools--Orange Glen being the most recent--are turning to computerized help.

“Everything else being equal, I’m sure people would prefer talking to a human than getting a message from a computer,” Brand conceded. “But in terms of money, time and energy, the computer is a much better way to go.”

After every class period during the day, the telephone numbers of those students reported absent by teachers are entered into the computer.

Then, sometime between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., the computer places the calls home. If the phone is busy or goes unanswered, the computer will try two more times before giving up for the night. A print-out shows which calls were successfully placed and which were not.

The computer can place about 80 calls an hour--more than twice as many as can be placed by an office worker because, by the very nature of a computer call, no conversation takes place.

Brand acknowledges that the guilty student might anticipate the computer-placed call and answer the phone--and hang up--without telling his parent. For that reason, the calls are placed at various times in the evening.

The computer cost the school $4,995, but Brand said it was worth it, not only in terms of cutting down on the cost of hiring people to make the calls but because it will discourage students from skipping classes without excuses.

“My No. 1 commitment for school is to improve classroom attendance, because the kids won’t learn a thing unless they’re in class. So this computer is in the best interest of our children,” Brand said.

The computer also can deliver other prerecorded messages, such as reminding parents about upcoming PTA meetings and back-to-school nights, and reminding students that they have outstanding library fines.

Among the first schools in the county to use a phone-home computer was San Diego High School two years ago. Principal Robert Amparan credits the computer with helping to reduce absences by 10%.

“We couldn’t do the same job with people making the calls because when you’ve got the two-way human element, you introduce conversation, which makes the calls a lot longer. We’d be two or three days behind in making calls,” Amparan said.

The computer snitch sometimes has the effect of getting more than just the parents’ attention, Amparan said.

“I know of one kid who was upset because he’s always in class, even when his brother is not,” Amparan said. “When the call comes at home, he’s still under suspicion by his parents because our message just makes reference to ‘your son or daughter.’ So now he’s also on his brother’s case not to miss school.”