DATE: August 7, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Lisa A. Smittcamp, District Attorney-Public Administrator
SUBJECT: Retroactive Agreement with Fresno Unified School District for the Attendance Matters Truancy Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive revenue Agreement with the Fresno Unified School District to provide funding for one Deputy District Attorney for the Attendance Matters Program, effective July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 ($240,000).
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The Attendance Matters agreement is for a truancy program with the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) and provides funding for one Deputy District Attorney position for FY 2018-19. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended action is not approved, the revenue, appropriations and staffing associated with this program will be eliminated from the FY 2018-19 District Attorney-Grants Org 2862 Recommended Budget.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
This agreement was approved by the FUSD Board of Education on June 13, 2018 and scheduled on the next meeting possible.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The agreement provides for 100% funding in the amount of $240,000 for one Deputy District Attorney and associated operating expenses through June 30, 2019. The total cost of this program is included in the FY 2018-19 Recommended Budget for District Attorney-Grants Org 28624000.
DISCUSSION:
The District Attorney-Public Administrator (DA-PA) and FUSD recognize the correlation between chronic school absenteeism, criminal activity, drug abuse, and incarceration. The Attendance Matters program is designed to help decrease truancy, improve attendance, increase learning opportunities, and raise financial revenue for FUSD. This will be the fourth year of the program.
For the program, FUSD selected schools that had demonstrated attendance problems, high poverty rates, and at risk students. For the 2017-18 school year, the combined student population in those eight elementary schools was 4,203 of which 463 students were identified by FUSD to participate in the Attendance Matters program.
With approval of the recommended action, the assigned Deputy District Attorney will continue to operate, manage, and direct the Attendance Matters program on a full-time basis. Duties include, but are not limited to, the training of school district personnel regarding program procedures and instruction in meeting the legal requirements for truancy prosecution, conducting school site meetings with parents/students, issuing letters to parents/guardians noticing them of the seriousness of the School Attendance Review Board (SARB) process, and prosecuting cases as deemed appropriate.
Should funding for this program be eliminated, the associated position will be deleted.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #21, August 22, 2017
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with FUSD
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa