Palm River

Program won't give truants a break

Now kids who skip school and are caught will be brought directly to a new center opening in mid-March.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

PALM RIVER -- Middle and high schoolers suspended or caught skipping class won't just be sent home to face the wrath of their families anymore, thanks to an alternative school site being set up by the Hillsborough County school district.

Instead, rule-breaking students will go right back to the books, to hone the math and reading skills they'll need for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

The school district is opening its 12th Alternative to Out of School Suspension program at 7444 Palm River Road.

But this site will be different, school district officials say.

Using suggestions from teachers and concerned residents in the Palm River area, the school district and Sheriff's Office have agreed to bring truants directly from the street to the ATOSS site.

"We can put them on some school work while we try to figure out where they need to be," said Maxine Woodside, district supervisor of dropout prevention programs. "We even believe we can refer some of these students to the GED program already there. This was a new strategy the community really wanted."

The Sheriff's Office uses $35,000 from a Weed and Seed grant to pay for a deputy to troll the Palm River area each school day from 9 a.m to 2 p.m., looking for truants. The federal program provides money for law enforcement agencies to work with communities in preventing, controlling and reducing crime.

According to the Sheriff's Office, between August and mid-December the deputy caught 21 truants, made eight felony and seven misdemeanor arrests, and issued 73 traffic citations.

County Commissioners will provide $25,000 to cover one year's salary for an assistant teacher for the ATOSS program. The assistant will work with a certified teacher, who leads classes for the underage GED program already in operation at the site.

Woodside said Palm River will serve up to 10 students a day, five days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will open by mid-March.

The Hillsborough County school district already operates the ATOSS program at 11 sites that each house up to 50 students, said Karen Billingsley, a district teacher who works with suspended students and makes sure teachers at the sites have what they need.

Middle and high schoolers suspended for up to 10 days can attend ATOSS for the duration of their suspension; they are not marked absent and do not have their grades penalized.

The ATOSS curriculum covers conflict resolution, character education and the math and reading portions of the FCAT, Billingsley said.

"What I'm finding is that, especially with our character development, it gives students a chance to reflect on their behavior and some things they need to do to correct that behavior."

-- Shannon Colaveccho-Van Sickler can be reached at 661-2443 or svansickler@sptimes.com .