Truancy sweep in Sandy picks up 64 students

SANDY — A truancy sweep conducted here by police Friday resulted in more than five dozen students being rounded up for not being in class.

Officers picked up a total of 64 students, the large majority of them high-schoolers, said Sandy police Sgt. Bill O'Neal. Fifty-four of those students were taken to the Juvenile Receiving Center in Sandy. The others were taken by their parents.

"We wanted to set a precedent for the school year," said Sandy police Sgt. Justin Chapman. "Our primary goal is to deter criminal activity in the community through enforcement of the truancy law. The by-product is they stay in school and get their education."

Crime in Sandy is reduced 50 percent when the truancy law is heavily enforced, O'Neal said.

All of the schools in Sandy are part of the Jordan School District, but not all of the students picked up by police in Sandy Friday belonged to the Jordan School District. Four were from different districts.

Misty Suarez, staff assistant for compliance at Jordan District, said consequences for being truant largely depend on the individual school, but that district policy follows Utah code for compulsory education requirements.

"We require every student through 18 years of age (to) be in school," she said.

Chapman said officers look for truant students every school day but only conduct sweeps once in awhile. He said the number of students arrested Friday was higher than average.

"We did (the sweep) early in the year to let them know the Jordan School District and (we) take a no-tolerance stance to truancy. We're not concerned if a student is missing a class here or there. Our main concern is what they're doing when they're not in class," Chapman said.

On an average day when officers are not conducting a sweep, about 20 students are picked up for truancy, he said.

One theory on why so many students were caught being truant was because many schools had assemblies last Friday, Chapman said.

Suarez said police have been working with school officials to keep truancies down, especially when assemblies are being held at the high schools.

"I think the message they are trying to send is that an assembly is not a free pass to sluff school," she said.