TRUANCY CENTER HAS ITS HOOKS ON STUDENTS WHO PLAY HOOKY

A student under 18 who misses school in the Provo area to nurse a cold had better stay indoors with his or her complaint.

Otherwise, he or she can almost count on getting a free ride in a police car.The student will be going to the Provo School District Truancy Support Center at Independence High School. The program is being so well-used, it's straining resources and pushing its instigators to work faster to complete development of the program.

Officials from nine different agencies, including the Provo School District, the Provo Police Department, Youth Corrections, Juvenile Court and Provo Youth Services have opened the center as a place for wayward students to land between regular classes and court detention.

Greg Hudnall, principal at Independence High, and Mike Browning, coordinator of the center, say the success is surpassing their wildest expectations.

"When we started this, I thought we'd have maybe 12 kids by November," said Hudnall, who brainstormed with Juvenile Court Justice Kay Lindsay to come up with the idea.

The center opened the last week in August and within three weeks had processed 71 truants.

"We expect to handle 1,000 by the end of the school year," Hudnall said. However, that'll take considerably more money and space than the center has. Right now, the center is tucked into half a classroom at the alternative high school, and Hudnall is furiously writing for more grants and funding.

"We've got the concept and the kids without the money," he said. Eventually, two portable classrooms are scheduled to arrive to house the center, and Hudnall hopes one day that it will have a building.

In the meantime, he and Browning are scrambling to handle the popularity of the program, which serves children as young as fifth- and sixth-graders.

Police officers like it because they're free again within a matter of minutes, as opposed to spending a good hour on handling an official arrest. Parents like the system because they know what's happening to their children. They get some help with youngsters who've defied all they can do.

Society benefits because the students are in a restricted learning environment instead of causing trouble on the streets, Browning said.

"We're not interesting in losing youths. We're interested in intervening and saving youth," said Provo Police Chief Greg Cooper. "This provides an excellent opportunity for police officers to deal with these kids without having to cite them."