Long Beach Mother Arrested In Son's Truancy
LONG BEACH (CBS) — A Long Beach mother faced charges Friday after her son missed more than 50 days of school, according to police.
Ermila Zamora was arrested earlier in the week under a new truancy law that took effect January 1.
Her son attends Washington Middle School. Under the law, students may not have more than 10 percent of unexcused absences in a school year.
Long Beach Unified has a truancy rate of 40-percent.
Police warned that skipping class can often lead to other problems.
"It increases their opportunity to commit crimes, it increases their opportunity to become a victim of crime," said Long Beach Police Officer Rob Gallagher.
Police said they had met with Zamora on several occasions to discuss her son's truancy.
She was released on $10,000 bail. If convicted she could spend up to a year in jail, and pay a $2,000 fine.
