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Education

Ditch days Tactics that may get the truant (and parent) back to school. By Rich RamusPublished: April, 2007

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Playing hooky from Santa Ana high schools just took a right turn: Missing a day of school will cost students a chance at winning a new car. Two years ago, students with perfect attendance could win a new television. But, wait a minute. Rewarding students for coming to school? Sweepstakes for good attendance? Keeping students in their seats means millions of dollars in state funds for local school district budgets. When the stakes are that high, and absenteeism a continuing issue, anything goes.  Truancy has become an expensive problem for California schools. Each student absence (whether the absence is excused or not) costs districts an estimated $25 to $40 per day. Doesn't seem like much, but it adds up fast. Districts that have done the math found more than $1 million eaten away in a single school year because of student absences. So, some like Santa Unified and Temecula Valley Unified in the Inland Empire are trying high-profile giveaways to keep kids from playing hooky. Others, like Los Alamitos Unified School District, have actually asked parents to reimburse the school if their child is absent for a reason other than illness or family emergency.  "We look at it as a positive reinforcement and a good idea to help keep our high schoolers to stay on a path of positive enrollment," says Angela Burrell, Santa Ana Unified's public information officer, on the district's plan this year to give away a Chevrolet Aveo to a student with a perfect attendance. The car, valued at $13,425, was donated by Guaranty Chevrolet. "I have recently been hearing of a lot of things (like this) going on. It looks like school districts are getting creative, looking outside the box."  As Temecula Valley Unified's Melanie Norton explains, "Districts are pulling out all the stops to get students to come to school more." The cost of truancy  School officials can no longer look the other way when students leave a day or two early for a family vacation or head for the beach en masse on "Senior Ditch Day." Most of the money school districts receive from the state, about 70%, is allocated based on average daily attendance (ADA), which measures actual attendance and not enrollment.  Schools receive state funds for each day a student is in attendance. Conversely, since the state funding rules changed beginning with the 1998-99 school year, districts do not receive funds when a student is ill or is out a full day for a doctor appointment, or for any other reason. In short, there is no longer funding for "excused absences."  Is your child a "truant" for taking a day off to hit the beach with you? Not exactly. The California Department of Education's definition of truancy gives students three chances per school year to be absent without an excuse, or tardy or absent more than 30 minutes. But the district giveaways aren't aimed at habitual truants, who typically require more intervention. Districts are focused on preventing "excused absences" that are avoidable, such as a student taking the whole day off for a doctor's appointment...or taking that beach day.  It's not surprising districts are going the extra mile to save money when budgets are stretched thin. And good attendance can also give districts another boost in the student performance category, which plays an important role in California's assessment of school progress.  "We are excited and believe this promotion will be a success in all nine of our high schools, where we strive for the highest student achievement through perfect attendance," says Dr. Lewis Bratcher, Santa Ana Unified's assistant superintendent, secondary education. Putting responsibility on parents  Absenteeism cost Los Alamitos Unified School District $1.56 million in state funding last school year. The district did not expect to make up that sum when it decided to ask parents to pay $40 for each day they take their student out of class, but instead the goal was to increase awareness of a growing problem.  For the past four school years, parents have received a letter explaining daily enrollment and state funds and outlining steps that parents can do to help. "Four years ago, it was budget-driven," says district executive assistant Deanne Sciborski of the letter campaign. "Knowing how schools are funded, we started looking at what we can do." Is it making a difference?  The goal for Temecula Valley Unified's car giveaway was to increase attendance by 2% and bring back nearly $2 million. The promotion only accounted for an increase of $227,000, says district spokesperson Norton.  Despite the modest gains, Norton considers the program a success. While she says the district probably won't be giving another car away soon, it will remain proactive when it comes to absenteeism.  Los Alamitos Unified collected about $1,500 last school year directly from parents, Sciborski says. But the real value of the letter campaign, and the reason it was continued, focused on public awareness. The result has been an increase in daily attendance each successive year.  "We're at a point where every little bit helps," reports Scriborski. Richard Ramus is a freelance writer living in Orange. He can be reached at rich@richramus.com.

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