Police look for kids skipping school

Capital News 9 | October 1 2004

Two Albany cops hit the streets looking for kids skipping school. They didn't have to drive far.

Police stopped and questioned one boy, but then determined he was going to a doctor's appointment after his mother arrived on the scene. Despite the mixup, the mother is glad to see the truant officers on the streets.

Michelle Van Hoesen said, "I think it's an excellent idea. I think it's excellent for the kids, excellent for the parents because this way the parents don't have to keep calling schools and calling around to see if their children arrived at school or not."

Most of the encounters officers have had with truants this week have been routine. If cops find the kids, between six and 16, playing hooky, they bring them to a truancy center. There, officials call the school -- and then the parents -- to pick up their children. Later on, officers will visit the child's home and talk to the parents.

Sheri Townsend of the Youth & Workforce Development Department said, "We knew that parents are key to the success of this program. Involving them, getting them to understand the importance of school was going to be the key thing."

On any given day, almost 700 students out of the nearly 10,000 students in the Albany school district are absent. About three-quarters of the students in the district are minorities, and some fear the truancy crackdown will unfairly target them. City officials disagree.

Mayor Jerry Jennings said, "If a large percentage of the kids that we pick up are minority kids, let them know that we care about them. It's not about race, it's about a consistent message for all of the kids in our city."

Albany joins Brooklyn as the only places in the state with an active truancy program. Officials hope once kids know truant officers are out there, fewer will skip school and there won't be a need for such a program.

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