KARNETTE COMMENDS "TRUANCY COURT" 

Sacramento - Senator Betty Karnette (D - Long Beach) commended 
the County of Sacramento today for implementing a bold new plan 
to reduce campus truancy.  A press conference was held by 
Sacramento's courts in cooperation with local school districts 
where they stated their intention of instituting a "truancy 
court" which will link driving privileges to school attendance.

"This program embodies much of what my Senate Bill 278 outlined.  
SB 278 tied a student's school attendance to the driver's 
license," said Karnette.  "The measure would mandate students to 
provide proof that they are not a habitual truant before they 
are issued a driver's license.  

Under Sacramento's program, truant students must go through the 
School Attendance Review Board (SARB) process.  If they fail to 
respond to SARB mediation, the new "truancy court" will suspend 
or delay driving privileges in appropriate cases.

"The time has come for creative means of keeping kids in 
school," said Karnette.  "Traditional methods do not work for 
all kids." 

Karnette was a California Public School Teacher for over 30 
years.  SB 278 is currently in the Senate Education committee 
and will be heard sometime after the first of the year. 

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