District Considers Proposal to Create Facility for Truants

As cities across Orange County debate a proposal for a daytime youth curfew to crack down on truancy, the Santa Ana Unified School District tonight will consider a staff report proposing the formation of a truancy center for students who have been rounded up.

Proponents of such a facility say that it could be operated by the school district, but there is no specific plan yet for funding the center, essentially a classroom overseen by a teacher.

Federal grants, the school district and the city of Santa Ana are possible funding sources, according to the staff report to be presented at the school board meeting.

The Garden Grove and Orange unified school districts already operate truancy centers. Each has an annual budget of $50,000, funded by city money and federal grants.

Under Santa Ana’s proposal, police would deliver the truants to the center, which would call their parents and arrange for them to be picked up.

The countywide daytime curfew has been proposed by police agencies and is being discussed on a city-by-city basis.

La Habra has already passed an ordinance that prohibits anyone between the ages of 6 and 18 from being outside school grounds from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Repeat truants may be fined as much as $250.

In other cities, however, some parents and officials have questioned whether such a policy would be unconstitutional and whether such as measure is too drastic and could be used to target minority youths.