Friday, January 30, 2009
Panel OKs bill linking attendance, driving
In certain circumstances, students who drop out or miss school could have their licenses taken away.
General Assembly 2011
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RICHMOND -- Ditching school for no good reason could leave a teenager without a license to drive under legislation that cleared a House of Delegates committee Thursday.
The bill, sponsored by Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, is designed to give school systems additional leverage to help improve graduation rates. House Bill 1826 would give schools the ability to go to court and ask a judge to suspend the licenses of students who drop out of school or run up a long string of unexcused absences.
"A lot of our urban areas have graduation rates we're not proud of, and we're trying to do what we can to help that," Fralin said.
The House Transportation Committee unanimously endorsed Fralin's bill, sending it to the full House for a floor vote.
The idea for Fralin's bill originated with the Roanoke School Board, which is seeking ways of improving the city's low graduation rate.
"It's not the answer, but it's a tool, and we need all the tools we can get to address graduation," said Roanoke School Board Chairman David Carson, who attended Thursday's committee meeting.
The bill would allow a school system to ask a juvenile and domestic relations court to suspend the driver's license of a student younger than 18 who has 10 or more consecutive unexcused absences from school. A judge would not suspend a student's license if parents say they want their child to keep his or her driving privileges.
The bill also includes exceptions for cases in which students withdraw for unavoidable reasons and for students transferring between schools.
Fralin emphasized that his bill does not require school systems to use the authority they would gain under the legislation.
"The schools have the complete option to do this or not to do this," Fralin told the committee. "It's a way to get everybody into court with something at stake that teenagers care about."
Schools would pick up the court costs associated with seeking the license suspensions, Fralin said.
If taken to court, students would have to show evidence they are still in school or that they meet one of the exceptions in order to keep their licenses. A judge would be the "sole authority" determining whether or not the withdrawal from school was for circumstances beyond the student's control.
Teens who have their licenses suspended still could apply for restricted licenses. Under Fralin's bill, restricted licenses could be given to those who must drive because of work or medical reasons or if they are the only licensed driver in the household.
Carson said about two-thirds of the parents he has heard from support the proposal. Fralin said some opposition to his bill is based on misunderstanding. He underscored the fact that dropouts won't lose their licenses if their parents want them to keep their driving privileges.
"When people object to it to me, it's because they don't understand that it's at the parents' discretion," Fralin said.
