L.A. School police to issue fewer truancy tickets
The Los Angeles School Police Department has issued new rules aimed at reducing the number of truancy tickets written to students and focusing efforts instead on helping these students get to and remain in school.
The new policy, announced Thursday, is the latest change from a campaign to reform traditional school discipline that advocates say results in ethnic and racial profiling and hardships for students and families. The targeted old rules were part of a get-tough philosophy that included truancy sweeps, $250 tickets and mandatory court appearances that could potentially result in jail time for parents. Such measures, advocates said, can diminish time in school and ultimately increase the dropout rate.
The new approach is an about-face.
Under the guidelines, there will be no ticket “task forces” or law-enforcement truancy sweeps within the first 90 minutes of school and their use will be limited at other times. Officers also won’t issue tickets on or near school grounds, where school authorities “should be responsible for students,” according to a news release from advocates. The rules also emphasize “the requirement that police