DINUBA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A daytime curfew is now in place for under 18s in Dinuba to stop them from “loitering or wandering in public areas” during school hours.

The Dinuba City Council implemented a “Minors’ Daytime Curfew” on Tuesday as a possible tool to help reduce truancy during school hours, according to a statement released by Dinuba Unified School District.

In the Dinuba City Council agenda from Tuesday, it states that the Dinuba Police Department and the Dinuba Unified School District have been working collaboratively on ways to reduce truancy during school hours.  

The proposed Ordinance No. 2307 would amend the existing Dinuba Municipal Code to add language enacting a daytime curfew, with certain exceptions, “for minors between the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on days that school is in session.”

The curfew applies specifically to individuals under the age of 18. However, according to the school district, there are certain situations that allow minors to miss class during those hours:

  • If students are accompanied by an adult, legal guardian, or parent they can be exempt from the curfew.
  • If children have a written excuse, permission to leave campus, or are engaged in specific activities such as work, medical appointments, or school-approved events, they will be allowed in public during the curfew.
  • The curfew will not apply when a minor is traveling to return directly from employment, medical appointments, school-approved events, including classes at different campuses, public meetings, entertainment (movies, plays, sporting events, dances,) or other school activities supervised by school personnel.

Officials warn that daytime curfew violations could result in opportunity intervention – or referral to assistance programs.

Enforcement of the daytime curfew will be the primary responsibility of the Dinuba Police Department. When a minor breaks the daytime curfew they will be processed at the police department and will be released to a parent or legal guardian with an appointment date and time for the Non-Custody Intake Unit (Thunderbolt Program), through the Tulare County Juvenile Probation Department.

Violations of the “Minors Daytime Curfew” would be treated as misdemeanors, according to the Dinuba City Council.