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By instituting a standardized, multi-step program that involves an escalating series of responses to chronic truancy, our school based initiative - as described in the news article below - has alerted parents/guardians of their child’s struggles and strengthened county-wide partnerships between schools and resource agencies. Encouraging parents/guardians to take a more active role in their child’s education allows us to resolve cases in a non-criminal way. Saratoga County Truancy Prevention Coordinator, Michael S. Elmo Pictured left, Program Coordinator Michael Elmo has been growing the program so that all Saratoga County schools are in included. After much hard work and volunteering his services through an unpaid internship, Michael Elmo was hired to fill this important post. Michael is a Skidmore Student who has worked closely with the program and the creators for the last 4 years. He is defining the position, establishing links to school districts and working closely with administrators and superintendents in all the county's schools. Meeting with student, parents, guidance officers, social service workers and family court experts, Michael is staking out the DA's position on the importance of the program and working toward full county community collaboration to get our kids back in school and off the street. Statistics show that the number one deterrent to keep kids from committing crime is to get them back in and keep them in school. For further information on the DA's role, you may contact Michael at 885-2263 x 4675.
Saratoga County Partnership to Combat Truancy
is in the developmental phase of serving the following school districts in Saratoga County:
Ballston Spa Central School District Corinth School District Galway Central School District Mechanicville City School District Saratoga Springs City School District Shenendehowa Central School District South Glens Falls Central School District Stillwater Central School District Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District
Nearly every student age child falls under the protection of this collaborative and innovative program, specifically those from the towns and cities of:
Greenfield Wilton Moreau Northumberland Mechanicville Corinth Ballston Charlton Malta Milton Clifton Park Halfmoon Stillwater Saratoga Galway Providence Waterford
An informational meeting to discuss the Saratoga Springs City School District's highly successful Student Truancy Prevention Program, offered in cooperation with the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office, was held on Wednesday March 5, 2008 at the McFadden Administration Building in Saratoga Springs. Nearly 80 school administrators, school counselors, attendance officers and other outreach workers as well as representatives from nearly all of the 12 school districts in Saratoga County were in attendance.
The multi-step program involves an escalating series of responses to chronic truancy. The most serious cases result in contact with the DA's office, which informs students and parents about the possibility of prosecution. To date, 197 families have complied without the need to file criminal charges. The program has resulted in marked improvement in student attendance and academic achievement and a reduction in the dropout rate. All measures of success.
Calling the program “one of the most non-traditional relationships we have seen between the district attorney’s office and school truancy,” Saratoga County District Attorney Jim Murphy emphasized the program is not about putting people in jail but is instead about prevention. Murphy recalled one of the earliest cases proved to have a simple solution — the student needed glasses. While not every solution is that simple, Murphy and Torres said the key to the program is getting parents more involved in their child’s school attendance. Torres said children do not want to admit when they are having difficulty in school. In many cases Torres said the problems leading to school avoidance or truancy can be addressed with the help of school staff or referrals to outside agencies, which are in place and work with the program and the students. The DA's crime victim advocates facilitate the connections for kids and facilitates the parents, the kids, the school, yet it firmly remains a school based program.
Of the 197 referrals from the Saratoga Springs City School District, only 6 meetings had to be called by the DA at his office. That is in all but 6 cases, the letter from the DA to the parent was sufficient to motivate the parents to meet with Dave Torres and in every case, the student returned to school, completed the required educational program, or received a GED (note: a few families moved away, out of the jurisdiction of the DA's office). "If we know what the issues are it gives us a better chance to fix the problems,” Torres said. "Whenever possible, this program seeks to identify problems within families and help solve them on a non-criminal basis.”
After unexcused absences, a letter is sent home to parents asking for them to contact Torres to discuss the matter. After an additional number of absences, a meeting with Torres and the building principal is held with the student and parents. If the student then continues with unexcused absences, a similar letter is sent to the parents with a copy sent to Murphy’s office. Ultimately and fortunately, the DA has only had to meet with 2 parents.
“A letter or phone call from the district attorney’s office . . . it makes people stop and take notice,” said Vicki Merola, a crime victim advocate with Murphy’s office. “Getting your child to school is not an optional activity" , Merola went on to say. Since the inception of the program, of the 197 students who were absent 20 days, only 39 of those cases resulted in a notification to the district attorney’s office, with just six of those requiring interventions by Murphy and his staff. In addition to Saratoga Springs, only South Glens Falls and Shenendehowa have attendance officers. Ballston Spa and South Glens Falls instituted the program in the Fall of 2007 and Saratoga Springs in 2001.
For information about the program at Saratoga Springs contact Dave Torres at 587-6690, ext. 3388 or at d_torres@saratogaschools.org. (taken in part and edited from an article in the Saratogian written by Ann Marie French, Saratogian reporter who attended the event, published March 5, 2008).
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Just one year following the expansion of the program from three to nine school districts the 2008-2009 school year proved to be a remarkable success. In fact, less than 25 % of the cases referred to the District Attorney’s Office required direct intervention and only two of those cases required a meeting with District Attorney Jim Murphy. 
Saratoga Springs
David B. Torres, Supervisor of Attendance for the Saratoga Springs City School District began the program in 2001 after reading about a similar program in Los Angeles that resulted in a drastic attendance increase for truant students. The program has been successful in reducing truancy by enabling parents to take a more active role in their child's education, identifying issues and helping to solve them on a non-criminal basis, as well as fostering better family relationships.
“Truancy, in addition to having a negative educational impact, is indicative of broader societal problems. The program operates under a conceptual framework which serves to address broader issues than just punishing truancy,” Murphy said.
The program is designed to help parents to show love while setting appropriate limits for their children. In addition, parents and students work to solve truancy problems. Additionally, schools in Saratoga County are involved in a program called Turnabout, offered by Berkshire Farms, which provides additional assistance in increasing school attendance and fostering greater academic success through working with the family to identify issues in the home and make appropriate referrals to address them.