The truancy law shall be enforced in accordance with this directive.
COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
A. Section 302A-1132, Hawaii Revised Statutes
(HRS), provides that school attendance (public or
private) is required of all children who will have
arrived at the age of at least five years on or before
July 31 of the school year and who will not have
arrived at the age of eighteen years by January 1
of any school year, unless the child is excluded
from school or excepted from attendance.
This section also provides that any parent, guardian,
or other person having the responsibility for or
care of a child must send the child to school unless
the child is exempted by law.
B. Section 302A-1135, HRS, provides that any
parent, guardian, or other person who is responsible
for a child and does not diligently enforce the
child’s regular school attendance shall be guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
C. Under Section 302A-1136, HRS, the Department
of Education (DOE) is charged with enforcement of
the compulsory school attendance law. However, the
police are also responsible for the enforcement of
such laws subject to the plans and policies of the DOE.
PROCEDURES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE TRUANCY LAW
Officers of the Honolulu Police Department shall
be guided by this directive when enforcing the
truancy law. During their tour of duty, officers
may come across juveniles suspected of violating
truancy laws. Officers should stop and check all
suspected truants during their tour of duty.
A. Any student found off campus during normal
school hours should have in his or her possession
a pass authorizing the student to be out of school.
The DOE has a standard pass for all public school
students; the private schools have individualized
passes for their students. Any student without a
pass may be considered a truant and should be arrested for truancy.
B. If a juvenile is found to be a nonstudent,
(e.g., is not registered in a public or private
school and is not exempted from attendance), he
or she shall be taken into custody and charged
for the applicable section(s) of 571-11, HRS, such as:
1. 571-11(2)(A), which addresses juveniles
who are neglected as to or deprived of educational services; or
2. 571-11(2)(C), which addresses juveniles
who are neither attending school nor receiving
educational services required by law through their
own misbehavior, nonattendance, or otherwise.
C. If a juvenile is arrested for a criminal
offense and is found to be a truant, he or she
will also be processed for truancy. The truancy
will not be handled as a separate case and will
remain with the criminal case for disposition by the investigator.
D. If a student arrested for truancy cannot
be returned to a parent or guardian because the
officer cannot locate or notify the truant’s family,
the student may be released to the counselor or
principal of the student’s school.
TRUANCY DISPOSITION AFTER ARREST
After a juvenile is arrested for truancy, each arrest report
will be forwarded to the state Attorney General’s office for
proper disposition.
REQUIRED REPORTS
Whenever a student is arrested for truancy, a
numbered police report and Juvenile Arrest Report
(JAR) shall be submitted by the officer and a copy
forwarded to the Records and Identification Division.
A. Truancy arrests should be processed by the
arresting officer as an absentee booking via the JAR.
B. All of the information blocks on the JAR
must be filled in completely. The original JAR
and two copies of the arrest report shall be
forwarded to the Records and Identification Division.
C. The circumstances under which the student
is detained and the actions taken by the department
shall be clearly explained.