Council Approves Fines, Driver’s License Seizure as Truancy Penalties : Education: Tougher policy shifts enforcement from schools to courts, aims to curb crime.

Students who are caught on the streets when they should be in school will face fines, community service work or possible revocation of driving privileges under stiff new truancy penalties approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council.

Aiming to keep students in class and to curb juvenile crime, the council empowered police to cite any youth under the age of 18 who is found loitering between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on school days. The student would appear with a parent or guardian before a traffic court judge, who could impose a fine of up to $50 or sentence the youth to community service.

A suspended driver’s license would result when multiple truancy infractions appeared on a student’s driving record.

If confirmed by the council next week and approved by Mayor Richard Riordan as promised, the toughened policy would take a problem that has largely been the bailiwick of the Los Angeles school system and put it into the courts.

“It’s about getting our kids back in school--and keeping them there,” Councilwoman Laura Chick said of the measure, which she authored.

But in a caveat that was passed after some debate, the council agreed to allow truant students 60 days to shape up and stay in school to avoid paying the fine or performing community work.

Regular school attendance would also prevent the citation from appearing on the student’s driving record.

“The punishment is not the point,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who introduced the amendment allowing for good behavior. “The point is to try and see if there is pressure that can be put on the young person to attend school and avoid that punishment.”

Although the measure passed on a 12-1 vote, several council members expressed concern that minority students in poorer areas and youths with legitimate reasons for being out of class would be unfairly targeted by police.

“I’m very uncomfortable with this. I don’t like the idea of making it criminal” for young people to be on the streets, said Councilwoman Rita Walters, who cast the dissenting vote.

Walters, a former Board of Education member, said the multitude of different campus calendars in the Los Angeles school system would make it too difficult to determine whether students are legally off campus during a vacation period or simply skipping class.

“This is going to fall heaviest on minority children, because that’s where many of the year-round schools are,” Walters said.

In response to those objections, Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Michael Bostic assured the council that officers would be able to quickly contact schools from the field to find out if a particular student is off campus with permission.

To further address those concerns, council members also voted to require that records be compiled showing the race, age and gender of students cited. A task force will monitor enforcement of the new policy.

Under current law, police officers assigned to patrol near schools for truants drive students back to their campuses when the youths are caught playing hooky. The school can then turn to a variety of punishments, from calling in parents to outright expulsion if unexcused absence from class is a habitual problem.

Bostic said that the new policy would free officers’ time by enabling them simply to issue citations.

The new measure puts the weight of the justice system--albeit not the criminal court--behind the discipline of truant students.

“There’s a high correlation between truancy and daytime crime affecting shopkeepers and homeowners, like graffiti. To that extent, it’s a very real law enforcement issue. So it’s not an issue of turf” between law enforcement and the schools, said Board of Education President Mark Slavkin, who supports the new measure. “We need to send a strong and united message,” he said.

Although the Los Angeles Unified School District employs its own police force, Slavkin said, school officers deal more with on-campus safety. The city Police Department is better equipped to handle the problem of students loitering in the community, he said.

“The LAPD has many more patrol cars on the street at any given time than we do,” Slavkin said.

Last year, the school district had a 4% rate of absences that were not recognized as legitimate by the state. Those absences include truancies.

If approved by the mayor, the new truancy measure will go into effect 30 days after he signs it.