CITY ORDINANCE WOULD THUMP TRUANTS : FEARS ABOUT JUVENILE CRIME MAY PROMPT LIMITS ON OFF-CAMPUS ACTIVITY.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

Hoping to reduce juvenile crime and keep students in school, the City Council is considering adopting an anti-truancy ordinance before classes start in the fall.

The proposed ordinance would make it unlawful for students younger than 18 to leave campus between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. unless they have a valid excuse such as a doctor's appointment or permission to attend an approved school activity.

To discuss the issue, the council has called an emergency meeting for 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Orchard Conference Room at City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd.

``We're hopeful that this will allow us to decrease burglaries and take some of the students that seem to be on the fast track of a life of crime and divert them before it's too late,'' said Capt. Mike Quinn of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station.

Under the proposed ordinance, truants must attend a court hearing with a legal guardian and could be fined up to $250. The fine may be waived for first-time offenders, those who have no unexcused absences for two months or who have performed 16 hours of community service or whose parents have attended a parenting class.

Hart school district officials said the ordinance would give them an effective way of dealing with chronic truants.

``Anything we can do in society to make sure students go to school is going to be helpful,'' said Gary Wexler, the district's director of curriculum. ``I think it's always good to take action so something that's not a problem doesn't become a problem.''

Advocates point to the success of anti-truancy ordinances in other cities, such as Monrovia and Los Angeles, where juvenile crime rates have dropped dramatically.

Since the city of Los Angeles enacted its ordinance in October, police have issued 5,900 citations and reported drops of 3 percent to 12 percent in 10 crime categories during daytime hours.

And during the first 180 days of the ordinance, Los Angeles school officials reported attendance increases at middle schools and high schools of 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

Although Los Angeles County has an anti-truancy law, it is not enforceable within the limits of cities. Santa Clarita city officials said they need an ordinance to deal with a rising juvenile crime rate.

During the first six months of 1995, 22 Santa Clarita burglaries that were solved were committed by eight adults and 24 minors. During the same period this year, police arrested 28 minors and three adults for 23 such crimes.

And while vandalism fell by 12.6 percent during the first six months of this year, the number of juveniles arrested has quadrupled, from five last year to 20 this year.

Council members Jill Klajic and Clyde Smyth said they support the ordinance in concept but need more details before making up their minds.

``Every tool that helps the Sheriff's Department combat juvenile crime I'm very much in support of,'' Klajic said.

Smyth said he wants an anti-truancy ordinance that involves law enforcement agencies, schools and the city.

``Anything that we could do jointly between the school district and the city to keep kids in school and keep them from cutting, we should do,'' said Smyth, who served as the Hart school district superintendent from 1975 to 1992.

``We should recognize the fact that kids should be in school and that everybody has a responsibility,'' he said.