San Bruno has truancy problem

Peninsula is a continuation school with an enrollment of 180 students who typically have problems at regular schools. The dropout rate at Peninsula is 28 percent compared to 1.4 percent at Capuchino, which has about 1,100 students.

State truancy laws are on the books and schools generally spend time assessing student absences. But the ordinance Hanlon proposes would give the truant students an incentive to stay in school.

"Juvenile court can prevent a teen from getting a drivers' license if they miss too much school," Police Chief Lee Violett said last night. "Millbrae has drafted a similar ordinance and the truancy rate has dropped dramatically there the past few years."

Schools receive funding based on enrollment, in part, but don't have the same authority police do to cite offenders.

The short-term impact will be virtually non-existent to the department, Hanlon said, but the long-term benefits will be a reduction in truancy and crime and could save the cash-strapped city some money.

"Presently when an officer finds a student on the street during school hours the school is contacted and the consequences are left up to the school. The ordinance would allow police to get involved," Hanlon said.

The San Mateo Union High School District asked San Bruno to consider the ordinance, Hanlon said, to bring the city in line with other Peninsula cities that adopted similar laws.

"It sounds like a good program to me," Councilman Ken Ibarra said. "Parents have to be responsible and this proposal might help do that."

City Manager Connie Jackson will draft the language of the ordinance and bring it back to the council for a vote at a later date.

In other council news, San Bruno approved a $92,000 contract with CSG consultants last night to monitor Pacific Gas and Electric's construction of a 230 kilovolt power line that will be buried underground on San Bruno Avenue. PG&E will reimburse San Bruno for the costs.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail at silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.