January 15, 2004

Rural Lawmakers Pass Bill to Reduce Truancy
State Must "Make the Grade" when it Comes to School Attendance

Atlanta – HB 395 overwhelmingly passed today in the House of Representatives by a vote of 162-3 and will make it easier for schools to set up guidelines to reduce truancy. Representative Hinson Mosley, D-Jesup, Tommy Smith, D-Alma and House Speaker Terry Coleman, D-Eastman, are all sponsors of the legislation.

The measure allows school officials to set up a protocol committee to adopt guidelines that spell out punishments and consequences for students being truant. The guidelines would be distributed to parents and their children when they reach age ten. Parents or guardians who violate the guidelines could face fines of between $25 and $100 and the protocol committee would be required to report truancy results they gather to the Georgia Department of Education every 3 months.

"It has been proven that chronic truancy is as a key predictor for negative outcomes in education, employment, and social success. In one of the schools in my district over 500 kids missed 15 days of school," said Mosley. "Georgia can do better and HB 395 will be a motivating factor for students and parents."

"Truancy is one of the early warning signs that youth are headed for delinquent behavior, social isolation, and educational failure. It can also be a risk factor for substance abuse and teen pregnancy. HB 395 is aimed at addressing problems resulting from a breakdown of traditional family values in today's society. I am very pleased this bill passed the House, and will be working for its adoption in the Senate," said Rep Smith.

In conclusion, Speaker Coleman said, "In communities across Georgia crime tends to increase during the day time hours when kids are not in the structured environment and school's could lose much needed money under the No Child Left Behind Act based on truancy rates. This is very important and I commend these two lawmaker's commitment to improving school attendance."

A sub-committee of the House Education Committee met during the interim on HB 395 to come up with the best legislation for presentation to the General Assembly. The House Majority Caucus has also made the bill a top priority by including it in their legislative agenda for the session. The measure is now in the Senate for consideration.

###

For further information please contact Rep. Mosley @ 404-657-8442 or Rep. Smith @ 404-656-5105.