Gregory Kampf; Superinte Dent Lompoc Unified School District

Between 2000 and2008, Santa Barbara County had an effective truancy program under the direction of the Santa Barbara County Office of the DistrictAttorney. Duringthat time the truancy rate averaged 20percent. Lompoc Unified School District agreeswith this finding. LUSDhashadahigher rate oftruancy than the county or state since2005. Below, pleasefind the historical truancy rate from 2004 to 2011. The truancy rate for the Lompoc Unified School District for 2010-11 was31.43% which isadecrease of 8.04% from the 2009-10 rate. Truancy Rate 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 LUSD 19.7 27.46 32.06 27.97 27.16 39.47 31.43 Santa Barbara 20.58 19.46 19.85 20.92 27.02 30.7 30.76 County State of California 22.56 24.61 25.22 25.7 24.15 28.32 29.76

After the termination of the program, truancy rates increased to ahigh of 30.76percent inSanta Barbara County in2010-11 and exceeded the truancy ratefor the State of Californiafor three years in arow. Lompoc Unified School District agreeswith this finding. After the termination of the county truancy program, the truancy rate for the Lompoc Unified SchoolDistrict roseto ahigh of 39.47% inthe 2009-10 school year. Thetruancy rate for the Lompoc Unified School District was8.77% abovethe county average inthe 2009-10 school year. During the 2009-10 school year, the district referred three cases for prosecution. The DA'soffice accepted these cases,however, the school district was informed that a contract was necessaryif any more caseswere going to bereferred. LUSDdid not haveacontract for serviceswith the SantaBarbara County District Attorney's office until the 2010-11 school year. After the agreement was reached, the school district began referring casesto the District Attorney's office for prosecution. Thenet result wasthe truancy rate was reduced by8.04% in 2011 becausecaseswere once again referred to the DA'soffice for prosecution. Disposition 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 umber of Cases Referred to DA 3 4 13 Cases Rejected 1 2 2 Cases Accepted 2 2 9

Reducing truancy rates at the secondary school level would result insignificantly increased revenues tothe school districts. The Lompoc Unified School District agreesthat revenues would increase. During the 2011-12 school year, Lompoc Unified SchoolDistrict took aproactive stanceto reduce itstruancy rate of 31.43%. It entered into anagreement with School Innovations andAdvocacy to implement the Attention to Attendance (A2A)program. Asaresult of this contract, A2Ahassent out 3,241 letters to parents regarding truancy, monitored the truancy conferences, and reviewed the District's procedures to ensure they met legalcompliance. Becauseof this effort, it isanticipated that the truancy rate for LUSDshould decreasefor the 2011-12 school year. During this time, LUSDalsoentered into acontract with the Santa Barbara County Boardof Supervisors to payfor casesreferred to the District Attorney's Office for citation. During the 2011-12 school year, LUSDreferred 13casesto the District Attorney's Office, the table below provides data for the lastthree years. r---- i 14 1'--------------------------------- I 12 10 8 .2009-10 .2010-11 6 2011-12 4 2 o Number of Cases Referred Cases Rejected Cases Accepted