Assemblyman, School Officials to Hold Town Hall on Attendance Issues

Representatives from three East Bay school districts will join state Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, to hold a town hall meeting this evening to discuss a new piece of legislation aimed at addressing academic problems associated with chronic absenteeism.

Studies indicate that students with chronic attendance issues fall behind in school, with the highest absentee rates often found among communities with low-income families and communities of color, according to Thurmond’s office. Thurmond has authored Assembly Bill 1014, which proposes to address some of these problems by providing grants to schools trying to address chronic attendance problems for students from kindergarten to third grade. AB 1014 was introduced in February.

An amended version of the bill was introduced in March and it is scheduled for a hearing at the Assembly Education Committee in Sacramento next Thursday. Thurmond will be joined by representatives from the Berkeley Unified School District, the Oakland Unified School District and the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

The town hall meeting is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline St., in Berkeley.

By Bay City News

Photo via Shutterstock