OAKLAND — The word “truant” might bring to mind a teenager with a spray can. But younger children miss school each year,
too, with alarming regularity. If a bill clears the state Legislature this month, parents could face jail time and a hefty fine. In the Oakland school district, more than 5,000 children in kindergarten through eighth grade — or 18 percent — missed at least five full days of school without excused absences this past school year, according to district records. About 2,000 missed 10 days or more. Some of their parents, after repeated warnings, were sent to truancy court in Alameda County and charged with an infraction.

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