Principal Debbie Padilla wants to decrease the 8 percent rate to
zero
Eight percent of the high school’s student population is
currently considered truant, according to San Benito High School
Principal Debbie Padilla.
Students that have missed three or more days of school unexcused
this year are considered truants and have to sign contracts with
the high school.
Principal Debbie Padilla wants to decrease the 8 percent rate to zero
Eight percent of the high school’s student population is currently considered truant, according to San Benito High School Principal Debbie Padilla.
Students that have missed three or more days of school unexcused this year are considered truants and have to sign contracts with the high school.
Padilla says that though the percentage is still relatively low, she’s not satisfied with any students missing school unexcused.
“The vast majority of our students attend classes regularly, that is not to say that there are not those students who are merely cutting one or two periods.
Truancy, as the high school defines it, is three or more full day unexcused absences. The high school uses the School Attendance Review Committee process to determine what qualifies as truancy. The high school does keep track of period absences, but those don’t qualify under the truancy guidelines.
The first time a student accrues three or more absences, a letter is sent to that student’s parents notifying them about the problem. Then, if six absences are reached, the problem is brought to the attention of the district attorney’s office.
“We want to teach every student that wants to learn, that’s our goal. But we can’t teach them if they’re not here to learn. I know there are legitimate reasons for why students have to miss school, but when students aren’t here, not only are they missing out on what they should be learning today, they’ve got to go back and relearn what we taught them yesterday too.”
The high school works closely with parents to make sure that students are attending classes regularly and things are flowing smoothly, and to help keep them motivated, Padilla said.
Often the high school will even refer the families to outside counselors. Internally, high school counselors work with students to see what they want to accomplish in their lives and then help them to reach those goals.
The Hollister Police Department does not keep track of truancy numbers, since they don’t usually throw offenders in jail; therefore there are no police reports, said Hollister Chief of Police Jeff Miller. Consequently, the police can’t give an exact estimate as to how large a problem truancy in San Benito County is.
Miller did say that one thing he’s noticed is that the number of daytime crimes, burglaries, vandalisms, etc. increases during the school year versus the summertime. He said that he doesn’t know exactly why that is, but that the number tends to go up.
Padilla said that School Resource Officer – Rich Brown – has actually gone so far as to go to the homes of truants in the past and drive them to school.
“We’d love to decrease that 8 percent. Those students are not accessing their free and public education. I don’t what they’re doing in the community, but I’d much rather have them here in school,” Padilla said.
