KINGWOOD, W.Va. (AP) - Circuit court judges across West Virginia will soon begin developing tailor-made strategies for keeping children in school - and for holding those who encourage or allow truancy accountable.
State Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis announced the initiative Thursday during a gathering of the American Federation of Teachers at Camp Dawson near Kingwood.
She says truancy is a problem that schools deal with first, but it typically leads to the court system and can lead to bigger problems for society. Those can include drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, delinquency and crime.
Davis says the state can't afford to wait to address the problem or more young lives will be wasted.
She'll begin traveling the state this fall to help judges and educators create strategies that will work for their districts.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
