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ACROSS THE STATES

School attendance still an issue

Although no cases have gone to court in California so far this year, many Home School Legal Defense Association members have been contacted by their school districts regarding the issue of truancy. Out of those many contacts, three matters have been referred to district offices of the California School Attendance Review Board (SARB).

The SARB's purpose is to correct habitual truancy. It is composed of law enforcement and department of social services personnel, as well as others within the educational establishment who deal with truancy.

When a supervisor of attendance refers a matter to the SARB in his school district, he is to notify the minor and the parents or guardians in writing of the name and address of the local SARB, along with the reasons for the referral. If the board determines that the child is truant and available community services cannot resolve the problem, or the parents and/or minor child fail to respond to the SARB's directives, the board may notify the county district attorney, probation officer, or both. Additionally, the SARB may direct the county superintendent of schools to request that a petition be filed in the county juvenile court. The district attorney may elect to prosecute the parents pursuant to Education Code § 48293, according to which it is an infraction to not send a child to school.

In one case, we were successful in convincing the school district that the family, which had filed a private school affidavit, was in compliance with California's truancy provisions. Therefore, the SARB did not have jurisdiction over the family and the scheduled hearing was cancelled.

In another situation in southern California, the family and our local attorney were informed at the beginning of the hearing that the SARB was not concerned about the truancy issue, but only about the special needs of the child. Therefore, no referral to the district attorney for prosecution would be made.

In central California, HSLDA Litigation Attorney Darren Jones appeared with the family at the SARB hearing. The SARB has preliminarily indicated that it believes the child is truant because of the family's alleged failure to comply with the representations contained in their filed private school affidavit. HSLDA disagrees with this conclusion, and we are working with the family to address the SARB's concerns. The SARB has not made a final decision on this hearing, nor has it turned the matter over to the district attorney at this stage in the proceedings.

California homeschoolers exper-ience much freedom, but they also encounter much misunderstanding. Homeschoolers legally operate as private schools in the state, but some districts have a problem accepting that a private school could include only one family's students and be conducted in a home. HSLDA will continue to vigorously defend this interpretation of the law for our member families in California.

— by J. Michael Smith