Parents of 374 Bear Creek students with three or more unexcused absences had a surprise waiting in their mailboxes last December. Lodi Unified School District (LUSD) sent letters to parents informing them that their child is a truant. "Our goal is to try to expand communication with parents about student attendance. We have an obligation to notify the family if their child is a habitual truant," Principal Jeff Thompson said. "The letters were triggered by the number of unexcused absences. This is the second time this year the letters have been sent out." "We have a big truancy problem," Child Welfare and Attendance Adviser Gwen Jones said. Almost 16 percent of Bear Creek students are truants. Any student who is absent from school without a valid excuse for three full days in one school year or is tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year - or any combination of the two - is a truant. When the counseling office becomes aware that a student has three or more unexcused absences, he is a truant and his parents are sent Truancy Letter #1. His parents are also visited at home by Jones. When a student has four or more unexcused absences, he is a "truant repeat" and his parents are sent Truancy Letter #2. His parents are invited to a meeting to discuss their child's attendance problem. When a student has five or more unexcused absences, he is a "habitual truant" and his parents are sent Truancy Letter #3. "We send a lot of letters," Child Welfare and Attendance Coordinator Bob Gire said. "Last year we sent out a total of 5,031 to grades K through 12. Most of them are Truancy Letter 1, about a quarter of the total number are Truancy Letter 2, and there aren't many Truancy Letter 3's sent out. But that shows that with every step taken, there is an impact." If the problem continues and the student is credit deficient, he may be referred to Plaza Robles continuation school. If the student remains at Bear Creek, and he continues to have unexcused absences, a referral is sent to the School Attendance Review Board (SARB). The student and his parents must meet with the SARB. Thompson said the SARB is "an attempt to help a person see they need to attend school." The SARB tries to provide parents with assistance from agencies that might help their child's attendance. Parents are informed that if truancy continues, depending on the situation, Gire may file a complaint with the district attorney against the parents if their student is a minor. "That's determined on a case by case basis," Gire said. "Maybe it's the student's fault, or maybe the parents aren't pushing their child to be at school each day." "If a high school student is truant, his parents experience the consequences," Thompson said. "They can be fined; it's a misdemeanor." If the parents appear before the judge, they can be fined no more than $100 for the first offense, no more than $250 for the second offense and no more than $500 for the third offense. "The court may order parent education or counseling," Gire said. Complaints can be filed as long as the problem continues. Only about 30 complaints are filed with the district attorney each year. "Most students improve their attendance after a complaint is filed with the district attorney," Gire said. Because so many students are truant, it is hard to get students to come to school. "There's no real follow-up that seems to have any effect [on student attendance]," Thompson said. "Beyond the use of Friday school, all we have is 'suspension for defiance of authority.'" District policy 5121 states, "Behavior, effort and attendance shall be reported in separate evaluations, not in the student's academic grade." This policy was revised in June 1998 and now does not allow teachers to lower their students' grades for unexcused absences. However, the practice of lowering students' grades has continued. Senior Rebecca Wells had her grades lowered because of unexcused absences in at least one class last year. "My teachers told me that every time I have an unexcused absence, they'd lower my grade," Wells said. "I complained to them, but they said that's what they're supposed to do."