L. A. Council Passes Tough Truancy Law

Students who are considering skipping school may soon want to think twice because of a tough new anti-truancy law approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council.

The council gave final approval to the law, which would authorize police officers to cite students caught playing hooky.

Those cited will be required to appear in traffic court with a parent or guardian and could be fined up to $50, required to perform community service and, if caught skipping school numerous times, their driver’s license could be suspended.

The law makes it illegal for any student under the age of 18 to loiter on school days from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Mayor Richard Riordan signed the law Tuesday afternoon and it will go into effect in 30 days.

“Kids are not safe unsupervised out on the street,” said City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who authored the law.

“We want our children to be prepared, independent and self-sufficient, and the way to do that is at the very least to have a high school education.”

Provisions are included in the law to allow excused absences from school for approved doctor’s visits and personal appointments.

The law also gives truant students 60 days to attend school faithfully to avoid penalties. Regular school attendance would also keep the infraction from showing up on the student’s driving record.

Presently, police officers who catch students cutting class drive them back to the school, which is responsible for meting out punishment, which can range from calling in parents to expulsion if truancy is a continual problem.