riding on a parade float singing "Twist and Shout" sounds like a
better time than going to school, students might want to rethink
their plans for a Ferris Bueller-like rendezvous now that a
California school district is using GPS units to track students
with a poor attendance history. Union High School District has
volunteered to be apart of a six-week program, which aims to
reduce the number of unexcused absences by equipping seventh and
eighth grade students who have a poor attendance record with
handheld GPS devices. Reducing the number of absences a student
has saves the school district money. Every time a student misses
class, the school loses $35. program works by assigning GPS
units to students with more than three unexcused absences. After
receiving the GPS device, students are sent an automated phone
call every school day to remind them to get up and go to school.
They must enter a code five times a day in order to activate the
device and track their location. They must enter the code on
their way to