Las Vegas school district bolsters efforts to fight truancy
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas educators are ramping up efforts to keep chronically absent students from playing hooky.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Clark County School District, the fifth-largest nationwide, is instituting a pilot initiative to get students to stay in school.
Students with a high absence rate will get personalized messages and more attention from attendance officers.
The district also will debut a new truancy prevention program where family advocates will visit the homes of frequently absent children. There will also be "juvenile assessment centers" to help absent students.
Officials hope a more personal approach will get at the root cause of why students are being truant.
The initiative is targeting 15 schools with the highest rates of chronic absences.
Clark County last year reported 800 cases of educational neglect.
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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com