BILL NUMBER: SB 1148INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Alquist FEBRUARY 18, 2010 An act to amend Section 48260 of the Education Code, relating to pupil attendance. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1148, as introduced, Alquist. Pupil attendance. Existing law defines a truant as any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse 3 full days in one school year, or any combination thereof. This bill would define a chronic truant as any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuing education who is absent from school without valid excuse for 10% or more of the schooldays in one school year. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 48260 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48260. (a) Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse three full days in one school year or tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during the schoolday without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof, is a truant and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor or to the superintendent of the school district. (b) Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuing education who is absent from school without valid excuse for 10 percent or more of the schooldays in one school year is a chronic truant.(b)(c) Notwithstandingsubdivisionsubdivisions (a) and (b) , it is the intent of the Legislature that school districts shall not change the method of attendance accounting provided for in existing law and shall not be required to employ period-by-period attendance accounting.