Principal not ditching his truancy program

When Greg Hudnall leaves his principal's post at an alternative high school, he will still have something to do with the districtwide truancy program he started there.

Hudnall, also a Provo city councilman, has been named to head a Provo School District social program to help at-risk students. The new program begins July 1 and uses funds that were earmarked for the Provo Education Foundation. The school district is dropping its involvement in that fund-raising organization.Hudnall will oversee 33 social programs at a variety of schools where at-risk youngsters are placed.

The truancy program Hudnall launched, once called Pick Up 1-2-3, has now been polished into the present Truancy and In-School Suspension program at Independence High. The first effort was the brainchild of Hudnall and juvenile court Judge Kay Lindsay. The two came up with the idea about three years ago.

"She was getting so many referrals through the courts, but there were no consequences for these kids," he said. The schools had gotten so big that many troubled youngsters were getting lost in the shuffle. They would get in trouble, ditch school and suffer no consequences.

"This is a way for kids to have a consequence," he said.

Now under the direction of Margie Turvey, the truancy program has an elementary program as well as one for middle and high school students.

"We're working with 150 families in the district with truant elementary kids," said Turvey.

Police now bring truants from any school to Independence High, where the school administration notifies the parents and the school they should be attending. Independence High staffers then test each student to determine his or her academic grade level and send them to in-school suspension. Parents of truants from outside the district are given the option of picking up their wayward child or leaving them there the rest of the school day. Often parents opt to leave them there, said Turvey.

Students picked up twice stay three days in the in-school suspension class. Those picked up three times stay five days and may be referred to juvenile court.

Before the truancy center was established, police had no place to take truants, said Hudnall. But now the truancy center is convenient to police and doesn't take a lot of their time, he said. And when youngsters are in school, daylight crime has gone down, he added.