LAUSD Truancy System Gets a Tech-Savvy Upgrade

In an effort to promote regular attendance, the Los Angeles Unified School District is changing the way it accounts for, and reports, truant students through a tech-savvy program that will organize and distribute data more efficiently, district officials announced Thursday.

"We need to be sure that we are using every resource available to us to ensure our students are attending class and that parents are aware if their children are skipping school," LAUSD Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines said in a statement.

"We can't ensure 100 percent graduation rates if students aren't attending class. Parents have to become engaged in their children's education and this new approach will help us mobilize parents to become partners in promoting regular attendance," Cortines' announcement said. 

Before implementing this new program, schools were responsible for manually generating letters notifying parents of their child's unexcused absences or tardies.

"Now, the automation of the initial truancy letters will produce letters by LAUSD's central office for distribution, using attendance data from the Integrated Student Information System," the announcement said.

LAUSD says attendance data will be input into the district's system where absences and truancies are categorized into codes. An electronic report will be produced at the end of the month and will include a list of students who have met the criteria to receive a truancy letter.

"The school then has 10 days to check for accuracy before letters to parents are produced and sent out, preventing unnecessary letters home," the announcement said.

School officials say the new process of producing truancy letters for the 2010-'11 school year will ensure truancies are accurately accounted for, and reported to both schools and parents, in a timely manner. LAUSD says it will also help schools with their attendance and dropout prevention plan because it will provide intervention for students with excessive absences and support for parents.

To learn more about the program, visit the LAUSD website. School begins Sept. 13 for LAUSD students who are on single track and a traditional calendar year.