[Youth-list] Hartford and Truancy

[JMRab at aol.com]

     (http://www.courant.com/)    
____________________________________
 
_http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-truancy0504.artmay04,0,6555008.story?coll=hc-headlines-education_ 
(http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-truancy0504.artmay04,0,6555008.story?coll=hc-headlines-education)  


Officers Find Few Truants In City Sweep  



By  STEVEN GOODE
Courant Staff Writer

May 4 2007

A citywide  truancy sweep in Hartford Thursday netted far fewer juvenile 
offenders  than city police had expected.

Two dozen officers knocked on doors  and checked neighborhood markets and 
street corners throughout the city  for youths skipping school as part of the 
police department's initiative  to crack down on a longstanding, significant 
truancy  problem.

Thursday's sweep netted only four truants in the city's  North End and two in 
the South End. Police also stopped 10 school-age  children they determined 
not to be truant, and arrested two students on  charges that included drug 
possession, breach of peace and interfering  with police.

On any given day, 1,950 to 2,000 students - nearly 10  percent of the school 
system's total enrollment - are absent from Hartford  schools. The highest 
absentee rate is in the ninth grade, the year that  most students who do not make 
it to graduation drop out. 

In  Hartford, just 29 percent of freshmen go on to graduate. But even the  
elementary schools struggle with absenteeism.

"I thought we'd have  higher numbers," said Hartford police Lt. Mark 
Tedeschi, commander of the  juvenile investigative division. Still, Tedeschi said he 
was looking at  Thursday's low numbers as a sign of progress.

"We're happy with  that because it means there weren't a lot of kids out 
walking the  streets," he said.

Department officials Thursday were also  encouraged by the attendance numbers 
related to an aspect of the truancy  program in six city schools. Tedeschi 
said the pilot program, which  targets habitual truants and offers support 
services to the students and  their families, has been well received.

According to department  statistics, of the 110 students initially enrolled 
in the program, 81 are  actively attending school. At Milner Elementary School, 
all 16 students  taking part in the program were in school Thursday.

"There is a  significant decline in truancy," Tedeschi said.

Tedeschi said the  department would continue to collect and analyze data 
regarding truancy in  city schools and fine-tune the program to address hot spots 
and trends of  absenteeism in the future.

The department also plans to conduct at  least one more sweep before the end 
of the school year, he  said.

Courant Staff Writer Rachel Gottlieb contributed to this  story. Contact 
Steven Goode at sgoode at courant.com.  
Copyright 2007, _Hartford Courant_ (http://www.courant.com/)    
____________________________________
      

Janice M. Gruendel, Ph.D.
Governor's Senior Advisor on Early  Childhood
Co-Chair, CT Early Childhood Education Cabinet
Senior Youth  Consultant
United Way of CT & Office for Workforce  Competitiveness
Home office: 203-481-9940
Blackberry: 203-824-4766
Mail  to: 28 Juniper Point
Branford, CT 06405

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has  genius, power 
and magic in it.   Goethe



************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ctvoices.org/pipermail/youth-list-ctvoices.org/attachments/20070505/cb1aead3/attachment.htm