Arcadia : New Program for Truants
Students who are truant at Arcadia High School will now have to show up for class on Saturdays under a pilot program launched recently.
The School on Saturday program targets students with unexcused absences, who each cost the school district $15.88 in lost state revenue every day they skip school. Ten students turned up for the first class Saturday morning, for which the district will receive a full day’s funding per student.
District spokeswoman Marilyn Daleo said only legitimate absences do not result in funding cuts, such as those due to sickness, medical appointments or death in the immediate family.
“State funding is so unpredictable schools have to be creative in maintaining every possible source of revenue,” she said.
If successful, the 4-hour Saturday sessions will be a permanent replacement of the school’s current campus-cleaning penalty for truants.
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