Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report No. 1012 Truancy Responses from Contra Costa County Office of Education

There are 18 school districts in Contra Costa County, each with its own superintendent. No response needed.

SARB is the body that refers students to the juvenile court system for truancy. No response needed.

The school districts do not provide timely documentation of truancy to the courts resulting in the delay of court intervention. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union Received Following the recommendations Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received Since the formation of the east county elementary SARB, there Union has been a system in place for bringing cases to court. The Judge who hears truancy cases requires that the districts file paperwork on each case two weeks prior to the first Monday of the month in order to get on the Judge’s docket. Jan Steed’s office prepares the subpoenas and necessary documents, files them in the Martinez Superior Court and appears on the first Monday of each month. The subpoenas are served on the parents to appear to explain the reason their child has been truant. This has been a very effective system for bringing cases to the Court’s attention. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Disagrees Canyon District does not have truant students, Elementary John Swett Agrees Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Partially Agrees that timely documentation is necessary for court disagrees intervention. Liberty Union Disagrees We are a high school district and have on staff a retired school High School administrator who serves as one of our Certified Attendance Supervisor. He is responsible for our SARB process. Due to our successful intervention program and the option of several alternative education programs, we have not found it necessary to refer students to court. Martinez Unified Disagrees Martinez Unified School District has a classified staff member at the district office responsible for filing our SARB cases with the courts. Once the case is filed, the SARB Chairperson for our district presents the case to the court on the date provided by the court. Of the four (4) SARB cases sent forward to the court for intervention in 2009-2010, all four cases were presented before the court. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Disagrees Records from Mt. Diablo Unified show that students are referred Unified to court once the SARB process has been completed and truancy continues. In 2008-09, 53 cases were referred to court by Mt. Diablo Unified and 94 cases were referred in 2009-10. Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received The Orinda Union School District (OUSD) has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. School procedures are used to address any attendance issues. Pittsburg Unified Partially Our understanding is that the statute of limitations is one school disagrees year. We do not submit cases to the courts. We take action and follow up on matters pertaining to the students who have been SARBed. San Ramon Disagrees The San Ramon Valley Unified School District has Valley Unified documentation verifying that truancy information has been provided to the courts in a timely manner. We cannot comment on other school districts. Walnut Creek Agree I cannot speak for all districts, but accept that this is what was discovered. West Contra None Costa Unified 4. The 2008 – 2009 Combined Districts-SARB Report identified 113 referrals to the court. The court indicated that only 10 cases were received. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union Received Following the recommendations Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received The SARB for elementary Districts and the Districts involved Union are unable to respond to this finding as it is based on county- wide data. However, the system put into place in January of 2009 is now regularly allowing the courts to intervene in cases from Brentwood, Byron, Knightsen and Oakley. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon None Elementary John Swett Agrees Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Agrees Proper documentation is necessary for court intervention. The District had no referrals to court. Liberty Union Partially We have not referred any cases to court. Our district’s High School disagrees emphasis is on early identification and intervention. Emphasis is placed on prevention and changing behavior norms. Martinez Unified Agrees The records of the court would be presented from the court accurately to the civil grand jury. The Martinez Unified School District shows a record of referring six (6) cases to court during 2008-2009. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Disagrees Mt. Diablo Unified accounted for 54 of the 113 referrals. All 54 Unified cases were heard in court. The district has copies of the court minutes and orders for all 54 cases and will provide them upon request. Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response Elementary Orinda Union Received The OUSD has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. Schools procedures are used to address any attendance issues. Pittsburg Unified Agrees We do not submit cases to the courts. We did not claim any court referrals. We take action and follow up on matters pertaining to the students who have been SARBed. San Ramon Disagrees The San Ramon Valley Unified School District has Valley Unified documentation from the courts showing that more than 10 cases were heard from our district alone. Walnut Creek Agree West Contra None Costa Unified 5. Many schools do not have the required Certified Attendance Supervisor for reporting truancy. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union Received Associate principal oversees the attendance policies. Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received The assertion is misleading. All site administrators with Union administrative credentials are certified by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to perform the duties and responsibilities related to attendance/truancy under the general authorization for child welfare and attendance. The functions of a “certified attendance supervisor” are performed regularly by the District administrators and the more serious cases are submitted to the SARB to move appropriate cases to the courts. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Agrees Elementary John Swett Agrees Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Disagrees Have a designated Certified Attendance Supervisor. Liberty Union Disagrees At all our schools, our Assistant Principals, per Ed Code 48240, High School as part of their job duties, are responsible for truancy and serve as Certified Supervisors of Attendance. Our Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services serves a Certified Supervisor of Attendance for our district whose job duties include the SARB process and truancy. Martinez Unified Disagrees Martinez Unified School District has an administrator at each school site that meets the criteria of Certified Attendance Supervisor. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Partially In Mt. Diablo Unified, the Director of Student Services is the Unified disagrees appointed Attendance Supervisor. The education code does not require an individual supervisor for each school. However, Mt. Diablo Unified has an Assistant Director of student Services and four Child Welfare and Attendance Liaisons who assist the Director in these duties. The County Board of Education has not taken action to certify any individuals in this role. Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received In the OUSD, the school principal is considered the Certified Attendance Supervisor for the school. The principal monitors student attendance and makes all final decisions regarding student truancy. Pittsburg Unified Disagrees We have a District Child Welfare and Attendance worker. We have administrators, counselors and clerks that do SARB related work. We have classified staff at every site who are responsible for tracking attendance. Ongoing professional development is provided to principals and clerical staff. The most recent training was mandatory two hour session on June 23. San Ramon Disagrees The San Ramon Valley School District does have personnel at Valley Unified each school site responsible for tracking school attendance. There is a district level administrator who is responsible for reporting truancy for the district. We cannot comment on other school districts. Walnut Creek Agree West Contra None Costa Unified 6. The review of truancy cases in some districts is not completed in a timely manner due to the infrequency of SARB meetings. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union Received We strive to provide timely interventions to prevent truancy issues. Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received This is not true of the East County elementary SARB. The SARB Union meets on a monthly basis handling cases from all four districts. In the spring, when truancy issues tend to increase, the SARB meets twice a month. Members of the SARB include an administrator from each school district, a community representative, a representative from REACH, and a retired law enforcement officer. A current law enforcement officer attends when it does not interfere with his duties as a police officer. The East County SARB is an extremely well organized and managed group with a high success rate in changing the negative behaviors of students. Referrals to court occur when it is clear all options with the student/parent have been exhausted. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Disagrees Canyon district would review truancy cases in a timely manner Elementary if they come up. John Swett None Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Disagrees Agrees that SARB meetings need to occur in order for a timely review of truancies Liberty Union Disagrees SARB meetings are held monthly and scheduled for the entire High School school year. Our meetings are held at the Brentwood Police Department. Martinez Unified Partially Martinez Unified School District reviews SARB cases bi-monthly disagrees throughout the school year. This schedule meets the needs of students in the seven (7) schools subject to compulsory full time attendance. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Disagrees In 2008-09 there were 48 hearing dates and 32 SARB hearing Unified dates in Mt. Diablo Unified in 2009-10. This was a reduction due to diminished staff. However, the length of the time for the meetings allowed for more students seen per session. Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received The OUSD has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. School procedures are used to address any attendance issues. School administrators work very effectively with parents to resolve student attendance issues utilizing required parental notifications regarding truancy. Pittsburg Unified Disagrees We review all cases if placed on SARB contract at initial meeting, or student shows no progress in attendance, behavior or academics. We conduct SARB meetings a minimum of every 2 weeks. We allocate dates and times for SARB meetings as referrals come in. When there is a high demand for SARB we add all day SARB meetings every Wednesday. Amount of time that has been needed has been a full day every week, as year school progressed. Meetings and follow up are held on all referrals. San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agree West Contra None Costa Unified 7. CCCOE receives truancy statistics but does not address truancy issues. Response by Contra Costa County Office of Education The respondent partially disagrees with the finding. In accordance with California Education Code 48273, the Contra Costa County office of Education collects School Attendance Review Board (SARB) data from all 18 school districts within Contra Costa County on a yearly basis. In addition to this annual collection, the Contra Costa County Office of Education addresses truancy issues on an ongoing basis as follows: SARB and truancy issues are a standing agenda item at triennial (sic) Coordinating Council meetings. Coordinating Council is a group comprised of Child-Welfare and Attendance personnel from each of the 18 school districts within Contra Costa County. The Coordinating Council meets three times a year to discuss issues related to child welfare and attendance including SARB processes, truancy and working with the Probation Department and the court system in order to improve outcomes for youth within Contra Costa County. Meetings are hosted by the Contra Costa County Office of Education and are held at the Contra Costa Probation Department in Martinez. This year, for example, the fall Coordinating Council meeting on October 30, 2010 was a panel discussion and question and answer session with key personnel from the Contra Costa County District Attorneys office. Panel members included District Attorney Incumbent, Dan O’Malley, Deputy District Attorney, Juvenile Division, Dan Cabral, Deputy District Attorney, Nancy Georgiou and Supervising Deputy District Attorney, Bruce Flynn. Topics discussed included how the District Attorneys Office, the Probation Department and the schools within Contra Costa County can work together more closely and effectively in order to address truancy issues within Contra Costa County. Also in attendance were personnel from the Contra Costa County Probation Department including Probation Supervisor Suzanne Nelson. The fall 2010 Coordinating Council meeting will be a panel discussion and question and answer session with members of the Probation Department in order to further discuss and address truancy and SARB issues within Contra Costa County. Each year, the spring Coordinating Council meeting is planned to coincide with the California annual SARB statewide teleconference hosted by County Office of Education Child Welfare and Attendance (COECWA). The Contra Costa County Office of Education hosts the teleconference for all 18 school districts within Contra Costa County. This year, the meeting was televised at two locations in order to better accommodate all of our districts. One location was at the Joseph A. Ovick School in Brentwood for our East County Districts and the other was held at the County Office of Education in Pleasant Hill for our Central and West County Districts. The topic of the April 2010 teleconference was “Model SARB Processes” and included presentations by Orange County Office of Education and Kern County Office of Education. The conference was followed by a lunch discussion where all Coordinating Council representatives discussed SARB processes in their individual districts and received ideas and suggestions from their colleagues about how to run more effective SARB programs and better address truancy issues. The Contra Costa County Office of Education also disseminated all handouts, power points and information from the teleconference to all 18 school districts within Contra Costa County including those 6 districts who did not attend the teleconference in person. In addition to collecting SARB data and planning and implementing Coordinating Council meetings and trainings, the Contra Costa County Office of Education also serves as an ongoing reference for all of the school districts by researching and advising on all SARB questions and issues that arise within Contra Costa County.

All School Districts shall notify parents and students of school attendance policies and truancy consequences. Responses: Brentwood Union, Byron Union, Knightsen and Oakley Union Elementary: Each District complies with this requirement through annual notifications to parents provided every year, parent and/or student handbooks as described in response to recommendation number 1. John Swett Unified: JSUSD has continuously implemented this policy through three methods. First, each school site sends out District and school information in the summer before the start of each new school year. Included in this packet of information are materials outlining attendance policies and truancy consequences. Second, each site has an updated website that includes information related to truancy and attendance. Lastly, SARB and attendance supervisors constantly review information with students and parents regarding truancy and attendance. The packets will be updated with the new board policy regarding truancy before they are sent out in August. Lafayette: The recommendation has been implemented. This is included in annual parent notifications as well as on an as-needed basis. Liberty Union High School: The recommendation has been implemented. At the start of every school year, parents receive the “Annual Notification to Parents and Guardians” document. New students throughout the year upon enrollment also receive this document. It notifies parents of the importance of school attendance and policies. In addition, students and parents are required to review the school’s Student Handbook which includes information regarding attendance policies and truancy consequences. Martinez Unified: The recommendation has not been implemented. All seven schools subject to compulsory full time attendance in MUSD notify students and parents of attendance policies and truancy consequences. This notification is done through student handbooks, parent handbooks and via the district website. Mt. Diablo Unified: The recommendation has been implemented. This information is sent to parents in Spanish and English, annually in the Parent Information Packet (PIP) that is also posted on the district website. Sites also inform parents as part of their attendance plan implementation. Orinda Union: Parents and students are notified of attendance policies in a variety of ways. OUSD Board Policies and Administrative Regulations provide the basis for the district’s attendance policies. Student handbooks include attendance policies and are reviewed with students by school principals and teachers. Newsletter articles on the importance of attendance are used to consistently reinforce policies. Pittsburg Unified: Has been implemented. San Ramon Valley Unified: The recommendation has been implemented in the SRVUSD. The district provides an Annual Parent Information Packet available both in print and online wherein information regarding attendance requirements and consequences for truancy, including Ed Code, is provided to parents. Walnut Creek: This is implemented concerning notification. West Contra Costa Unified: Each year, parents are provided with a revised edition of the Parent Student Handbook which contains detailed district and school information including, but not limited to, attendance policies and truancy procedures. This handbook is disseminated at the beginning of each school year.

CCCOE shall conduct an annual or semi-annual county-wide SARB conference to evaluate, discuss and share program strength and weaknesses. Response by Contra Costa County Office of Education The recommendation was implemented prior to the SARB Grand Jury Report Findings and Recommendations. The Contra Costa County Office of Education hosts a state-wide SARB teleconference on an annual basis. All 18 districts within Contra Costa County are invited to participate. The last SARB teleconference was held on April 27, 2010. Twelve of the 18 districts within Contra Costa County attended the conference and participated in the follow-up discussion and evaluation. The Contra Costa County Office of Education has hosted the annual State- wide SARB teleconference since its inception in 2001. Responses (not required): John Swett Unified: JSUSD supports and will participate in the CCOCE conference program for the 2010-2011 school year. Martinez Unified: The recommendation has not yet been implemented. Over the course of the 2010-2011 school year MUSD will analyze the projected impact of implementing a curfew during school hours. The focus of the analysis will be in the following areas: a) Will a curfew during school hours within the MUSD attendance area decrease the level of truancy for students? b) If implemented, who would be responsible for enforcing the curfew? c) Are there sufficient resources available within the city of Martinez and the MUSD to effectively implement and enforce a curfew during school hours? d) Does a curfew within school hours reflect the mission of our independent study programs and student learning academies that promote project based learning within the community and natural environment? Mt. Diablo Unified: The recommendation has been implemented. CCCOE holds multiple County Coordinating Council meetings each year to evaluate, discuss and share program strengths and weaknesses regarding SARB. One meeting each year is broadcast statewide. Orinda Union: The OUSD has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. School procedures are used to address any attendance issues. OUSD would be interested in participating in a county-wide SARB process in order to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of the program. Pittsburg Unified: This recommendation does not relate to our agency. San Ramon Valley Unified: This recommendation does not involve the school district and should be referred to the county. Walnut Creek: If CCCOE conducts a SARB conference will implement. West Contra Costa: This recommendation will not be implemented at the district level however we are unaware of any such conferences offered by the County.

All School Districts in the County shall consider implementing curfews during school hours. Responses: Acalanes Union: All of our school activities that take place Monday through Friday evenings end prior to any local curfews. Brentwood Union, Byron Union, Knightsen, and Oakley Union Elementary: The Districts do not believe they have the legal authority to implement curfews. John Swett Unified: The JSUSD believes that this recommendation is a worthy one and expects to pursue this recommendation during the summer of 2010 and during the school year of 2010-2011. Currently our truancy officer is working with deputies and resources officers from the County Sheriffs Office on crafting a county wide curfew law for all areas of the county. He is also looking at adoption of a JSUSD curfew ordinance. He plans on presenting to the JSUSD school board during the fall of 2010. Lafayette: The recommendation requires further analysis. Not applicable, but the district would consider if problems emerged. Liberty Union High School: The recommendation requires further analysis. A formal written policy regarding curfews during school hours is not currently in place. However, we have an excellent relationship with both our police and sheriff departments. We work together to ensure that students are in attendance during school hours. Within the next three months, we will explore this recommendation with our board, cities and law enforcement agencies. Mt. Diablo Unified: The recommendation requires further analysis. Any curfew would need to be coordinated with the cities where districts are located. Mt. Diablo is located within 7 (seven) different municipalities. Coordinating a curfew among all entities would be complex and require county support and fiscal support for implementation. Some of the municipalities host multiple school districts. Essentially this would need to be a county-led effort. Note that all Mt. Diablo district schools are closed campuses. Orinda Union: Due to substantial variations in school district demographics and locations, curfews may not be effective in all communities. The OUSD would work cooperatively with the Orinda Police Department to review the magnitude of this problem in Orinda and to identify possible solutions that fit the local problems. The OUSD and Orinda PD work very effectively and cooperatively on many issues. The police department provides very effective support for the schools. Pittsburg Unified: Has been implemented. San Ramon Valley Unified: This recommendation has not been implemented. It is not clear what is meant by “implementing curfews during school hours.” We believe a curfew is an order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time. If the intent of this statement is to require students to be on school campuses during school hours, this is complicated by several factors including the following: some of our schools allow students to go off campus during lunch hours; some students are home schooled and are not bound by set school hours; some students attend an independent study school and do not have set school hours; students who take independent physical education have a shorter school day; some high school students participate in a work-study program; some special education students age 18-22 take the bus on their own to Diablo Valley College for classes as part of their Transition program; many students in the community attend private schools. While the district has a close working relationship with the police force of the Town of Danville and the City of San Ramon, it does not have the authority to require them to act as truancy officers. Walnut Creek: Curfews – This is not presently implemented. We will discuss this with the Board. West Contra Costa Unified: Recently, WCCUSD has provided input and support to the City of Richmond in implementing a juvenile daytime curfew ordinance when school is in session. The District will work in conjunction with the city and local law enforcement to enforce this curfew. Other cities within our district including El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole and San Pablo have also implemented similar ordinances.

There are no County Probation Officers assigned to schools to deal with truancy. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union None Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received To the best of our knowledge this is an accurate statement. Union Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Agrees Elementary John Swett None Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Agrees The district has had no need to involve the probation department. Liberty Union Partially Three Deputy Probation Officers, as well as police, school staff High School disagrees and community members are in integral part of our SARB panel. Through a Juvenile Justice grant we have a Deputy Probation Officer assigned to one of our schools. Although Deputy Probation Officers are not formally assigned at our other schools, they can be seen frequently on our school campuses and work closely with administrators on truancy issues. Martinez Unified Agrees Moraga None Mt. Diablo Partially No County Probation Officers are assigned specially for Unified disagrees truancy, however three are assigned to district high schools in Mt. Diablo and do work on truancy as well as other caseload issues. Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received The OUSD has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. School procedures are used to address any attendance issues. Consequently, there has not been a need to contact the probation department for assistance with truancy. Pittsburg Unified Disagrees Keisa Booth, Probation Officer for Pittsburg High School serves on our SARB board. San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agrees West Contra None Costa Unified 9. According to the California Department of Education SARB Handbook, students and parents must understand that school attendance is not a matter of choice but a mandate. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union None Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received The responding Districts understand that this is the law. In Union addition this information is included in all annual notification packets to parents, letters and policies related to school attendance and SARB referrals. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Agrees Elementary John Swett None Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Agrees Liberty Union Agrees High School Martinez Unified Agrees Moraga None Mt. Diablo Agrees Unified Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received Every opportunity is taken to emphasize with parents the importance of school attendance. All parents are required to review the annual parental rights and obligations notifications. In addition, the schools in Orinda utilize a variety of strategies to emphasize the importance of attendance including: direct phone calls to parents of absent students, school newsletter articles about attendance, parent/teacher conferences, Student Study Teams, and truancy notification letters. Pittsburg Unified Disagrees of the Student Handbook (given to all students/parents every year) states the legal obligation to attend school for students 6-18 years old. Child Welfare and Attendance worker and Director of Student Services make calls to parent quoting requirement that children 6-18 years old must attend school according to the law. San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agrees I agree that students and parents must understand that school attendance is not a matter of choice but a mandate. West Contra None Costa Unified 10. To deter truancy, some school districts have implemented curfews during school hours. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union Received All school activities end prior to any local curfews Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received Under the Civil Code curfews may be implemented by cities and Union enforced by the police. We are unaware of any legal authority allowing the governing boards of school districts to enact or enforce curfews. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Disagrees Canyon district does not have a curfew because truancy has not Elementary been a problem. John Swett None Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Disagrees Has not implemented such a practice. Liberty Union Agrees Our police and sheriff departments work closely with our High School schools to ensure that students are in attendance during school hours. All of our schools have a School Resource Officer assigned to them. Martinez Unified Agrees At this time a curfew during school hours has not implemented. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Agrees Unified Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received The OUSD schools do not have nor plan to have curfews. The Orinda Police would enforce any local curfews. OUSD parents value education greatly and are the district’s best support for having their children home on school nights. Pittsburg Unified Agrees The City of Pittsburg has a Daytime Truancy Ordinance 99- 1162 that states “Minors under 18 years of age that are subject to compulsory education must be in school between the hours of 8:30am and 1:30pm on days the minor’ school is in session.” San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agrees I was not aware of curfews in some districts, but if this is what was reported, I agree. West Contra None Costa Unified 11. Not all school districts comply with EC Section 48260.5 for the reporting of truancy and subsequent parental notification. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union None Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received The four responding Districts do comply with the requirement Union of 48260.5. The SARB established for these Districts has also enhanced the ability of the Districts to comply with all Education Code requirements as it relates to student attendance and truancy issues. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Disagrees Would comply with EC section 48260.5 if truancy became a Elementary problem. John Swett Unif. None Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Disagrees We comply with notification requirements. Liberty Union Disagrees Our district complies with EC Section 48260.5 regarding the High School reporting of truancy and notification to parents. We have a procedural system in place to notify parents verbally and in written form upon a pupil’s initial classification as a truant. Martinez Unified Disagrees Complies with Education Code section 48260.5 for reporting truancy and subsequent parental notification. Each school in MUSD sends letters to parents regarding excessive absences. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Partially Mt. Diablo Unified does comply with EC48260.5. Letters with Unified disagrees the required language and elements are printed automatically as part of the electronic student information system. We cannot speak for other districts. Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received The OUSD has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. School procedures are used to address any attendance issues. School principals also send truancy notifications letters to parents when appropriate. Pittsburg Unified Disagrees The district uses E-truancy – a service that sends letters to all parents of truant students. District Child Welfare and Attendance Person and Director of Student Services follows up on truant students. School Sites (administrators, dean and counselors) follow up on truant students. San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agrees I agree if it was found that not all school districts comply with reporting of truancy. West Contra None Costa Unified 12. Truancy is detrimental to student achievement, promotions, graduation, self-esteem, and employment potential. Students lose the benefit of instruction, districts lose income and communities suffer. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union None Antioch Unified None Brentwood Received The Districts acknowledge that parental control is critical. Union However, many parents have no influence or control over their children. Some wish to have control and don’t know how to get it. Some do not care to gain control. Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Agrees Elementary John Swett None Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Agrees Liberty Union Agrees High School Martinez Unified Agrees Moraga None Mt. Diablo Agrees Unified Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received All in the school district would agree with the Grand Jury’s finding. The fact that API scores for all Orinda schools exceeding 900 is clear evidence of across the board support for this finding. Pittsburg Unified Agrees We strongly agree, that is why we have a SARB board of 30 plus members, of which the average of 16 at each meeting. Our SARB meetings are professionally conducted with titles of each member who provide free resources, services and support for students; and sometimes consequences. The goal of the Pittsburg Unified School District SARB Board is to provide resources for behavior and attendance challenged students that will increase their academic performance, improve attendance, and reduce negative behavior referrals that affect learning. We provide on campus support, district support, and community resources/services for students as needed. San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agrees Truancy is detrimental to student achievement. West Contra None Costa Unified 13. Exhibit 1 to this report shows the number of students referred to SARB, the gender of the referred students, the reason for the referrals, the number of students referred to the court, and the total enrollment for each identified school district. Responses: School District Response Comments Acalanes Union None Antioch Union None Brentwood Received We assume that Exhibit 1 is accurate. Union Byron Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Canyon Agrees Elementary John Swett None Unified Knightsen Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Lafayette Agrees Liberty Union Agrees High School Martinez Unified Disagrees The record of the 2008-2009 end of year summary for SARB is not consistent with the numbers listed in Exhibit 1. Moraga None Mt. Diablo Agrees Unified Oakley Union Received Identical to Brentwood Union response. Elementary Orinda Union Received Exhibit 1 accurately displays attendance results for the OUSD. Pittsburg Unified Agrees We always keep the required information in a database and update it accordingly. San Ramon None Valley Unified Walnut Creek Agrees West Contra None Costa Unified RECOMMENDATIONS 1. All School Districts shall strictly and uniformly enforce the Education Code Section 48260.5 regarding truancy tracking and parental notification. Responses: Brentwood Union, Byron Union, Knightsen and Oakley Union Elementary: the four East County elementary school Districts have a variety of ways of communicating about attendance problems with parents. Those activities include annual notification of all parents regarding the law governing attendance and truancy, inclusion of this kind of information in Parent and/or Student Handbooks which are also reviewed at schools, letters to specific parents, home visits and referrals to SARB. SARB also undertakes activities to notify parents and work with families in a variety of ways before referring a case to court. John Swett Unified: JSUSD has implemented the recommendation with revised and uniform truancy notification letters for both parents and students. These letters are hand delivered (requiring signature of student) and through the mail. Additionally, site attendance supervisors and administrators make regular phone calls to parents with students that are habitual truants or have irregular attendance. The SARB board, attendance supervisors, and administrators met twice this year to review and revise procedures and will meet at the start of next year (September 2010) to work on identifying areas of weakness and to ensure consistent, systematic implementation of this recommendation at all schools. Lafayette: The recommendation has been implemented. The district’s Student Services Director has set up systems in working with principals to track truancy and notify parents. Liberty Union High School: The recommendation has been implemented: Students are classified as a truant if absent from school without a valid excuse for three or more days. Our district uses a four step tracking and intervention process. The first letter is a warning notifying the parents of (a) through (h) in EC Section 48266.5. If a student continues to be truant, a second letter results in a meeting with an Assistant Principal. The third letter results in a meeting with our School Attendance Response Team (SART) to provide intensive intervention and support to parents. If a student is still truant, then they are referred to SARB. Martinez Unified: The recommendation has been implemented. Within our database system each school has absence letters created and sent to students throughout the school year. These letters specify the student as being classified as truant. In addition, these letters specify other possible actions regarding continued truancy. Mt. Diablo Unified: The recommendation has been implemented. This is ongoing in MUSD. Letters with the required language and elements are printed automatically during the attendance cycle as part of the electronic student information system. Orinda Union: All attendance processes are uniformly enforced in the Orinda schools. Attendance is carefully monitored, parent notifications are provided annually, truancy notification letters are sent when appropriate and school administrators work effectively with parents to resolve attendance problems. Pittsburg Unified: Has been implemented. Walnut Creek: Walnut Creek School District will ensure this in 2010-11 with a new person overseeing this. West Contra Costa Unified: Within the first month of the school year, each school in the WCCUSD must submit a site plan for attendance improvement and truant recovery. This plan must include goals/objectives, a step-by-step plan for early identification/prevention and persons responsible, and incentive programs for improved attendance. These plans are reviewed by the SARB (School Attendance Review Board) chairperson and meetings are held to discuss the plans with the schools. Each school's Attendance Clerk runs reports and identifies truant students for the "first notice" mandated cost letters. Other key staff members at a school also help to identify truants under the site plan. Students whose truancy persists are referred to the next step in the school's plan. A school-level intervention often used at secondary schools is a Truancy Mediation or "Group" meeting. The WCCUSD has successfully utilized a truancy mediation program adapted from the Santa Clara County Model. Due to the limited availability of personnel from the District Attorney's (DA) office, more often schools will use a "Group" meeting which is similar in format to the Truancy Mediation but without the assistance of the D.A.'s office. A group meeting may involve 40-50 families. Individual student attendance, behavior, and academic data is available and a panel to address the families may be made up of the principal, a district-level official, gang-intervention specialist, School Resource Officer (SRO), and a community person such as a city council member. When a school has exhausted its resources without resolving a student's truancy, a referral may be made to the district Student Welfare and Attendance Team (SWAT). A formal referral form must be submitted which requires: student demographic information, attendance record, and a listing of actions taken by the site. There are check-off boxes and required dates and results indicated for the following actions: phone calls, letters, conferences, referrals to the School Success Team (SST) Student Attendance Review Team (SART) and other (i.e., program change, testing, referral to outside agency, etc.). Referrals to the Student Welfare and Attendance Office are first screened by the Staff Secretary. If the documentation or actions taken are not adequate, the school is notified. If the referral meets all criteria it is assigned to an Assistant of Truancy Prevention. If the truancy worker is not able to help resolve the student's truancy, the case will be considered for a SARB referral. At the weekly Monday morning staff meeting, truancy workers and the SARB chairperson collaboratively review cases and decisions are made to start the communication process for the following week's SARB cases. Attendance data is screened carefully at both the school and district level. Truancy Prevention Assistants work closely with the site Attendance Clerks to be sure that students are being referred. Monthly attendance reports are provided to the schools which compare two years of data to identify trends, successes, and challenges. The SARB chair and even our Information Technology Department (since attendance improvement is everyone's concern) will contact schools to make sure that truant students are being referred. The following is demonstrating the referral process in the W.C.C.U.S.D. School Plan I.D. Truants – Student Welfare & Attendance Interventions – SARB Interventions – Judicial System Community Service 2. All School Districts shall initiate a stronger link between SARB and the courts to provide an opportunity for timely intervention. Responses: Brentwood Union, Byron Union, Knightsen and Oakley Union Elementary: As mentioned above the SARB for these elementary Districts has enacted a system for bringing truancy cases to court on a monthly basis. John Swett Unified: JSUSD has partially implemented the recommendation. The District truancy officer made early contact with the courts to investigate any changes in the courts for the 2009-2010 school year. JSUSD did make several court referrals but the process is slow and cumbersome. After meeting in September 2010, the District SARB coordinator will develop a streamlined process for reporting necessary court referrals and the appropriate evidence/documentation to the truancy officer for reporting to the District Attorney. Additionally, the District is in the process of adopting new board policy that clarifies truancy policy and implements a clear policy of consequences and responses for implementation by each site administrator and attendance supervisor. Included in the policy are the implementation of a uniform SARB referral process and also the elimination of steps for referral to the SARB board. This adoption will take place before the start of the 2010-2011 school year. Lafayette: The recommendation has been implemented. The district’s Student Services Director shall utilize the courts when necessary. Liberty Union High School: The recommendation requires further analysis. With our district’s early identification and intervention process we have not found it necessary to refer a student to the court. Also, as a high school district, we have several alternative education programs for students to achieve success. However, the Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services will meet with site principals within the next two months to discuss whether this recommendation will benefit some students. Martinez Unified: The recommendation has not yet been implemented. Of the four cases from MUSD referred to the court for action, all four cases were presented to the court by the district SARB coordinator. However, MUSD agrees that a stronger link between SARB and the courts will provide more effective intervention for students. To establish a stronger connection the Director of Student Services and SARB Chairperson will meet with a representative of the courts during each semester of the 2010-2011 school year. Mt. Diablo Unified: The recommendation has been implemented. MDUSD referred 54 cases to court in 2008-09 and 94 in 2009-10. Representatives attended hearings and present cases each month. Orinda Union: The OUSD has not had the need to convene a SARB process. Attendance rates in the Orinda schools exceed 97%. School procedures are used to address any attendance issues. Pittsburg Unified: We would be happy to work with the Courts. However, prior calls to the Courts and through our probation department have indicated to us that the Court is not interested in this low level “crime”. Walnut Creek: This is implemented. Our Special Services Director oversees this linkage. West Contra Costa Unified: The WCCUSD operates two SARB panels (each meeting on alternate Thursdays) and a concerted effort is made to see that each panel is diverse. A number of our panel members serve on both panels. The WCCUSD SARB has evolved over a period of more than 15 years. When first established, a concerted effort was made to recruit panel members from agencies that provide services for different ethnic groups that reflect our school population. Over the years, we have had members representing the N.A.A.C.P., Lao Family, Asian Pacific Psychological Services, and Familias Unidas. Many of our panel members first partnered with the district on a State Targeted Truancy Grant which required that the district work with agencies offering services matching the diversity of our students. Our current panel reflects a number of agencies that work with diverse community populations. They also network and make confidential, culturally sensitive referrals to agencies not represented on the panel, for example, County Mental Health, Asian Pacific Psychological Services, and Familias Unidas. A wonderful addition to our panel two years ago was the district's Community Engagement Coordinator who has contact with all vital community services and updates an annual listing of those services. Our SARB interacts effectively in the district's cultural environment because our panel "looks like" our families. When families enter our meeting room, they readily identify because our panel members look like them and can speak their language. Our panel has a good male/female mix and a number of "young" members from 25-35 years old. Many panel members were raised in our school district, attended our schools, and still live in and care deeply about our community. Our school/district based members help families navigate school resources whether it is related to discipline, transfer, alternative programs, S.S.T, or Individualized Education Plans (IEP).