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Getting truant kids back on the right track

When Amanda Mendoza was a high school sophomore, setting foot in school was not part of her routine.

She skipped classes at Vista High School at least once a week, sometimes missing school for an entire month, she said.

“I didn’t care about school or education. I just wanted to hang out with my friends,” said Mendoza.

But the 18-year-old Bakersfield resident said that attitude is now a thing of the past.

Mendoza, now a high school graduate, will be attending Bakersfield College in the spring, with plans to become a computer engineer.

Mendoza said at some point she realized skipping school was not right for her future, so she worked hard at catching up with classes and finishing school.

Mendoza is an example of a high school truant who was able to get back on the right track, but there are many who don’t.
That’s why parents, teachers, law enforcement authorities, courts and schools have formed the Truancy Reduction and Attendance Coalition of Kern. The coalition, which kicked off Sept. 12, tackles truancy through programs and services for parents and students.

In general, truancy means an unexcused absence from school. But there are levels of truancy.

An “initial” truancy includes three unexcused absences within a single school year, while “habitual” truancy includes at least five unexcused absences in one school year.

The cost of truancy can be high.

The District Attorney’s Office prosecutes students and their parents through the courts. Parents can be fined, may be required to take parenting classes, perform community service or be placed on probation or even sent to jail if they do not assure that their children are attending school. Students also can be penalized by losing driver’s licenses or work permits, or by being fined.

There’s reason for concern.

School and law enforcement authorities said 90 percent of students who end up in jail are high school dropouts.

Dropouts are almost three times more likely to end up on welfare than high school graduates. And a large number of these cases are Latino.

According to data from the state’s Department of Education, 1,425 Kern County students dropped out of high school during the 2003-2004 school year, and about 46 percent, or 665, of those students were Hispanic.

Kern County Assistant Deputy District Attorney Wendy Avila said “a lot of the issues that affect truancy have to do with socioeconomic issues, such as poverty.” Latinos have suffered from poverty and a lack of academic services in disporportionate numbers compared to other groups, Avila said.

Culture may play a role in truancy.

Avila said there are times when language barriers prevent first-generation parents from communicating with school authorities or finding out what’s going on with their children’s education. She also said sometimes parents might be reluctant to have their children attend school because they prefer to have them work to help them support the family.

“I think one of the things that’s frustrating to me is see when parents who have come to work hard in this country do not encourage their children to continue with their education. And then the children fail to realize that the only way they’ll succeed is through education,” Avila said.

One of the major concerns about truancy, authorities said that a lack of education increases people’s chances to becoming criminals.

There’s not one easy solution to help reduce truancy, but authorities said there are a number of steps that, together, can make a difference.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Department, for example, has assigned four deputies as school resource officers to the Greenfield, Beardsley and Bakersfield City School Districts. The officers work with the District Attorney’s Office and issue citations for truancy violations to both students and parents.

The Kern High School District and the Bakersfield City School District provide several programs to motivate students to stay in school and help parents keep track of the education of their children.

For more information about the Truancy Reduction and Attendance Coalition,  call the Kern County Superintendent of Schools at 661-636-4757.

-- By Rosario Ortiz (rortiz@masbakersfield.com)