SUSPECT: JUVENILES LOCATED OFF SCHOOL GROUNDS, DURING SCHOOL HOURS AND
PARENTS WHO HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED NUMEROUS TIMES OF THEIR CHILDS
TRUANCIES
SUMMARY:
On Thursday, March 4th, 2010, at approximately 7:30 a.m., San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, San Bernardino County Juvenile Probation Department and Victor Valley Union High School District launched the second truancy sweep this school year in Victorville.
The SARB (School Attendance and Review Board) monitors student's unexcused absences. The first contact a parent would likely have regarding a truant child is after they've had 3 unexcused absences. This first notification is a letter sent home. If the student's truancies continue, the SARB sets up a meeting with the student and parent where they sign an agreement that the child will be in class and the truancies will stop. If the child continues to be truant after this phase of SARB involvement, the parent will be cited.
Today, deputies and probation officers started the sweep by picking up kids that were off school campus during school hours. These students were cited and will likely have their driver's license suspended for a year. Their parents were contacted and asked to pick up their students at the command post. While at the command post there are several tables set up to assist parents by providing tools to help them get control of the situation and learn about the consequences of their child's truancy. The tables set up to assist during the truancy sweep were such things as Probation, school counselors, school nurses, Child Family Services, Parent Project, Public Health, crisis/food bank/food services, foster liaison, One 2 One Mentors, TAD/welfare, Sheriff's Dept. and the District Attorney's Office. After picking up their children, parents were expected to get their children to school for the remainder of the day.
Deputy Jonathan Andersen worked closely with SARB to identify students with ongoing truancy issues. Sweep teams also had target households that were identified as students that continue to have truancy problems after numerous contacts with their parents. Parents contacted during this part of the sweep will be cited for an amount ranging from $450 plus fines to $1900 plus fines, depending on whether the parents have been cited in the past or not.
During the sweep, deputies cited 31 students for being off campus during school hours, 5 of these students had also been cited during the October sweep, and several parents were cited when contact was made at target locations. A few students were cited or arrested for being in possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. Further investigation led to the arrest of a student on a high school campus with Ecstasy for sale and identified other drug sale locations.
Children are supposed to be on school campus during school hours and home schooled students are supposed to be inside learning during the same hours. Victor Valley Unified High School District's commitment to their students is what inspired the coordination that brought these agencies together today. It's not unusual to learn that mid-day burglaries and like crimes are committed by juveniles, who should be in school. It's also estimated that approximately 91% of people incarcerated in state prisons do not have a high school diploma. Hopefully our crime rate and school test scores will start to be positively influenced by slowing or ending the truancy problems we're seeing in our schools.
Refer: Karen Hunt, Media Relations
Station: Victorville Police Department
Phone No. 760-241-1841
ROD HOOPS, Sheriff-Coroner
San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department
