By Frank Valadez
I would like to thank Michael Smith for his response to my
letter. Although letters from private school advocacy organizations
were certainly expected, his professional approach to the often
misunderstood topic of private schools (home schooling) was
appreciated.
Hopefully, this will address the specific points that he and
other letter writers have raised.
By Frank Valadez
I would like to thank Michael Smith for his response to my letter. Although letters from private school advocacy organizations were certainly expected, his professional approach to the often misunderstood topic of private schools (home schooling) was appreciated.
Hopefully, this will address the specific points that he and other letter writers have raised.
While the district certainly intends to operate within the law, Mr. Smith failed to present any new information that would cause me to reevaluate our procedures.
The catalysts for establishing procedures in the Gilroy Unified School District, after years of laissez faire, are described at the end of this letter. However, the public should know up front that this is not a money issue. Unlike other districts, we are not experiencing declining enrollment and in fact have more students than we can handle. The procedures have been instituted to protect the rights of young children in our community of receiving an education and to reduce the abuse of the private school option by those parents who have a history of contributing to the truancy of their children. Last year 34 truancy cases were referred to the District Attorney for prosecution. This year we will have referred in excess of 200 cases. As we do a better job of abating truancy, we are seeing an increase in the number of parents who are wanting to home school.
The procedures, in accordance with Ed. Code 48222, do not attempt to evaluate, recognize, approve, or endorse any private school or course. They are intended to verify attendance and make a determination of truancy. They do not usurp a parent’s constitutional right to teach their own children. They have been instituted as the least intrusive method of verifying attendance.
Ed. Code 48240 requires that the Board of Education of any school district appoint a supervisor of attendance and such assistant supervisors of attendance as may be necessary to supervise the attendance of pupils in the district and county. This law does not limit the supervision of attendance only to students enrolled in public schools. The compulsory education law, Ed. Code 48240, requires regular full-time attendance of all students between the ages of 6 and 18, whether they are attending private or public schools. This law requires that the supervisor of attendance supervise the attendance of any student whether enrolled in a private or public school.
The importance of the supervision of attendance is underscored by Ed. Code 48264, which authorizes designated school officials to arrest any minor subject to compulsory full-time education found away from his or her home during school hours and who is absent from school without valid excuse within the county, city, or city and county, or school district.
Ed. Code 48263 authorizes the supervisor of attendance, or other persons the governing board of the school district or county may designate, to refer “any minor pupil in any district of a county” who is an habitual truant or is irregular in attendance at school to a school attendance review board. This statute applies to all minors in the district, whether they are enrolled in a private school, charter school or public school.
Ed. Code 48290 mandates that the school district make a “full and impartial investigation” of all charges against any parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any child for violation of the compulsory education laws.
As with brick-and-mortar schools, this not only involves checking to see if a student is enrolled but whether he or she is attending regularly. The supervisor of attendance would be remiss in meeting the mandates of this law if only the enrollment of the student were checked and not the attendance. A full and impartial investigation must go beyond simply checking a document, such as the private school affidavit, to see if it was filed with the state. It must involve the verification of attendance in a school.
In regard to home schooling, attendance in a school cannot be verified unless there is proof that a school exists. Showing proof that the several branches of study required in the public school will be taught, that the teacher speaks English and that there is an attendance register being kept are the minimal requirements permissible by Ed. Code 48222. Proof that these conditions exist would permit the supervisor of attendance to make a determination of either acceptable attendance or truancy.
Ed. Code 48291 states that if there appears to be a violation, a referral to the school attendance review board must be made. The law does not exempt parents from investigation because they claim their student is home schooled or because they claim their student attends a private school.
Ed. Code 48321.4(e) provides that parents of students attending private schools or home schools may not be subpoenaed to attend a school attendance review board hearing, if two conditions exist:
n the student must be enrolled in a private school that has filed a private school affidavit pursuant to Ed. Code Sections 33190 and 48222
n the student must be regularly attending the private school that has filed a private school affidavit pursuant to the Ed. Code.
If these two conditions do not exist, if the private school has filed the private school affidavit but not pursuant to the cited codes or the regular attendance of the student cannot be verified, a subpoena can be issued.
Mr. Smith is wrong when he claims that public school officials have no jurisdiction over minor children enrolled in private schools when the private school has filed an affidavit. If a minor student is found to be truant or a determination cannot be made due to the lack of cooperation of the parent. The parent may be called before the school attendance review board. Failure of the parent to respond to the directives of the school attendance review board, Ed. Code 48263.5 and Welfare and Institutions Code 601.2, can result in a referral to the district attorney.
So why is the Gilroy now exercising its authority to include private schools? There have been three key truancy cases this year which have caused the district concern about the safety and education of its children.
One case involved suspected child abuse or neglect. A second case involved Spanish-speaking parents with pre-school children and a teenaged daughter. A third case involved a family with a five-year history of truant children.
Parents in all three cases pursued the home schooling option. The School Attendance Review Board felt that the home schooling option was being used to keep investigative personnel at bay and as a means of avoiding prosecution.
The SARB also felt that the students would continue to be truant insofar as the parents would not or could not follow through with the private school mandates as listed in Ed. Code 33190 and 48222.
The district recognizes a parent’s right to teach his or her own child. It also acknowledges that many of our local parents have a history of doing a laudable job of educating their own children. These families were not the primary focus of the new procedures, although the process must be applied equally. The procedures were implemented to serve as a wake-up call to those families that have not set the health, safety and education of their own children as a priority.
Nonetheless, the procedures will be regarded by some parents as a major intrusion. However, by allowing parents to initiate the contact with the attendance supervisor in order for a determination of compliance and attendance to be made, the need for visits to the home or places of employment will be minimized.
For those families doing the right thing, the procedures may prove to be beneficial insofar as an additional link can be created with the resources of the larger school district.
For those parents of truant children, there will continue to be a bumpy road ahead until the children receive the education they deserve.
Author Frank Valadez is the GUSD attendance officer.
