BRIGHTON — The problem of getting kids in Adams and Broomfield counties to school and keeping them there will be the focus of a unique gathering Tuesday in Thornton.
Court officials, law enforcement and school leaders will converge for a truancy summit at the Adams 12 Five Star Schools Training Center, 1500 E. 129th Ave., in Thornton to compare notes and come up with ways to cut the dropout rate in local schools.
The summit is hosted by the Adams County Truancy Committee as part of the Adams County Youth Initiative, whose founder is Don Quick, also the district attorney for the 17th Judicial District.
Quick says no particular school district is being singled out for having an especially serious truancy problem. Rather, the summit will focus on evidence-based tools, practices and interventions that reduce chronic absenteeism, he said.
“All schools have truancy issues,” Quick said. And it makes sense to bring in those who work in law enforcement and the justice system to get their ideas on how to prevent dropouts, he added.
“Schools don’t have to do this alone,” Quick said. “All community stakeholders have the responsibility to see that our kids are in schools. When this happens, we all win.”
He said that for every child who drops out of school, it costs taxpayers $290,000 in services to support the former student.
Kids who drop out also are more likely to get involved in crime. “These are not separate issues,” Quick said.
Officials say most dropouts occur during the middle-school years. But kids show signs of dropping out in elementary school if they are consistently missing class.
Quick said that could be the result of parents not encouraging them to go to school or because they are needed at home to watch over siblings.
Still, it’s important to get to the kids as early as kindergarten to teach them the importance of staying in school, Quick said.
School officials hope the summit will be part of an ongoing effort to encourage education in the community.
“This summit is only the beginning of what must be a partnership approach to address these problems with limited resources,” said Adams 12 Five Star Schools Superintendent Chris Gdowski.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
