MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Schools showed WREG around one of its new truancy centers near Airways and Ketchum on Tuesday.
“They bring them right up this walk, then right into the Truancy Assessment Center,” said SCS Manager of Student Safety Ron Pope.
Pope explained that due to budget issues, the district closed truancy centers last year.
However, this year SCS was able to open five of them.
“If police see children on the street during school hours, now they have some place to take them, and we can find out why they’re missing school,” Pope said.
WREG was told there would be five truancy officers out looking for truant kids across town.
If caught, the students would be taken to the nearest center so staff can work with the students and their parents.
“If it’s a socioeconomic issue, as it relates to uniforms or something like that, we’re going to get that need met. If it’s something going on in the school, we’re going to try to get that need met,” Pope said.
Pope said most of the time, parents said they did not know their kids were skipping school.
He said his staff worked on the front end to keep students from ending up at the truancy centers in the first place.
Over the summer, SCS made more than 1,700 calls to families whose kids were truant last year.
In addition, the district also made more than 500 visits to homes.
The district said that of the people who said the calls encouraged them to register by the first day of school, 90% followed through.
Five unexcused absences can mark a student truant and land parents at the District Attorney General’s Office.
The D.A.’s Office runs a Truancy Reduction Program, which offers mentoring to parents.
Parents with ongoing truancy issues are subject to legal action.
“We want to catch them [students] and convince them that school is the safest place for you to be when you’re supposed to be in school,” Pope said.
Three of five locations are currently operational.
The district said the other two will open soon, including the one at Hickory Ridge Mall.
