Portantino Truancy Bill Passes Legislature, Heads to Governor

For Immediate Release: August 28, 2024

Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400

Portantino Truancy Bill Passes Legislature, Heads to Governor

Sacramento, California – Senate Bill 691, authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank), passed the Legislature and is headed to the Governor’s desk. The measure encourages a more collaborative approach to address truancy and follows significant research that has proven to be successful. The California State PTA and GENup are co-sponsors of SB 691.

“SB 691 addresses the threatening language of student truancy notices by using a problem solving approach,” stated Senator Portantino. “The best practices for improving attendance focus on empathy and communicating with parents and informing them about how the school can help. At the end of the day, we want to help parents bring their children to school – and this includes developing strategies to make students feel more welcome rather than punishing or blaming parents.”

SB 691 removes language subjecting the pupil, parent, or guardian to potential prosecution. This bill would instead require that notification of truancy to include additional information about mental health and supportive services available to the pupil and his or her family.

“Simply replacing intimidating language with messages that are welcoming and supportive, encourages families to work with schools to resolve attendance issues. That is our goal,” said Kathleen Fay, Director of Legislation with California State PTA.

Typically, a first notice a parent or guardian receives about a student’s truancy includes threats of prosecution for both the parent and the student. A study conducted in California found that rewriting traditional truancy notifications with language that removes legalistic language increased notification effectiveness by 40 percent.

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