FILLMORE : City Council Backs Anti-Truancy Law
Students at the Fillmore Unified School District who are found away from school grounds during school hours without an excuse will soon have to do a minimum of 20 hours of community services, city officials said.
The City Council agreed to approve the ordinance after the city attorney reviews the language of the measure.
Currently, the city allows sheriff’s deputies to pick up truants, take them back to school, and report them to school officials.
However, the only punishment is what is offered by each individual school--truants are generally suspended, or in extreme cases, expelled from school, said Jerry Peterson of the Fillmore sheriff’s station.
The new ordinance, approved Tuesday, would allow sheriff’s deputies to refer truants to the Juvenile Traffic Court. If a student failed to appear in court, he would have his driver’s license suspended until the citation is settled, Peterson said.
Deputies come across about 40 to 60 students a day wandering around the streets during school hours without an excuse, Peterson said.
“We hope this will deter students from getting into trouble,” Peterson said. “We have far too many truants in Fillmore.”
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