"I think we probably saw a connection that when the kids are not in school they tend to cause a lot of problems in the community and basically get in trouble, and so we thought that this was a way to tackle the juvenile delinquent problem and it was more of a preventive approach than having to deal with a high number of kids on probation," said Diego Lopez, director of ICOE alternative education.

The two entities work with school districts throughout the county through a process called the Student Attendance Review Board. Hoping to keep the students in school and out of the court system, SARB enlists a variety of community resources including counselors, police officers, parents and educators.

From police officers knocking on the students' doors each morning and escorting them to school to simply enlisting parents' support, the departments try to place the teenager back in the classroom and out of trouble.

If a student is habitually skipping school, a probation officer is called to the school site.

After meeting with the district or school administrator to gather information about the student, the officer will meet with the family and decide what means are necessary to make sure the student attends class, said Mike Kelley, county chief probation officer.

"Sometimes they make them get dressed and take them to school," he said. "There's a multitude of things we use to ensure attendance and participation. We try to drag the parents in and let them hold some range of responsibility to make sure their kids do go to school."

Still, many of the initial attempts to redirect a truant student don't work. If the initial intervention fails, the ICOE will refer the student to the Probation Department and begin mediation proceedings.

If the latter process fails, as a last resort, the ICOE will file a claim with the District Attorney's Office. When the DA is brought in students are tried in juvenile court for failing to comply with state compulsory education laws and are often placed on probation and/or placed in the alternative education program.

Thirty-one alternative education students are working through mediation contracts and eight cases are being processed. About seven cases have been processed by the DA's Office.

Making sure the kids attending alternative education are in their seat every day is essential.

"I would say 80 percent of our kids are truant and a lot of people have a misconception that we have the juvenile delinquents, and to oversimplify it, "the bad kids," said Lopez.

Still, over time those students who were expelled from high school simply for excessive truancy may turn into those "bad kids." If the schools and police officers don't keep tabs on the community's youth the likelihood that they'll commit a crime is high, said Kelley.

Students give probation officers a number of reasons why they don't attend school. One student said he couldn't cope with the death of his sister. Some are physically, sexually or emotionally abused. Drugs, alcohol and gangs are other issues.

And some students will freely concede they're just lazy and would rather sit at home and watch TV than labor all day on math problems and essays.

"Your imagination can design a multitude of reasons why some juveniles don't want to go to school," said Kelley. "Keeping them off the streets is the most important thing."

>> Staff Writer Heather Bremner can be reached at 337-3445 or hbremner@ivpressonline.com