City to Crack Down on Truant Students
The San Fernando City Council this week proposed a truancy ordinance to dissuade students from cutting classes and loitering around town.
Police said the ordinance is necessary because the city of San Fernando has become known as a “free zone”--an area where truants believe they can hang out without getting caught.
“The problem is that we run into kids from other schools [outside San Fernando] coming into our city and thinking it’s safe [to be truant in],” said Sgt. Robert Ordelheide of the San Fernando Police Department. “So we want the same kind of truancy ordinance that most other independent cities and Los Angeles already have.”
Ordelheide said the Police Department and administrators at San Fernando Middle School receive frequent calls from merchants and residents complaining about teens hanging out during school hours.
Truants also sometimes spray graffiti and commit other acts of vandalism, police said.
The proposed ordinance would make it illegal for students to loiter between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Police have requested that the City Council set fines for offenders between $125 and $250. The ordinance, introduced Monday at a council meeting, will be voted upon June 17.
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