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Oakland's Truancy Center
"Our goal is to have a one-stop shop where they would come in and we can talk to them about what's going on in their lives."
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By Anyi Howell
If you're a student at Oakland Public School, you're worth 28 dollars a day from the state of California. That means if you don't show up for class and you don't have an excuse from your parent, the school loses 28 dollars in state funds. Every day in Oakland, four thousand school kids are marked down as unexcused absences. So the money adds up. The district's latest strategy for keeping kids off the streets and in school is a new truancy center that's already brought in 410 students this year. It's located behind Lowell Middle School in West Oakland. Youth Radio's Anyi Howell reports.
For a long time, cutting class has been just as much a part of the educational experience as gym class. Legendary tales of playing hooky loom larger than life to current students. They're all too eager to outdo their predecessors.
ELMER (on tape)
We cut with the seniors to go to the senior class picnic and got suspended. It was dumb fun but we got in major trouble. Passed anyway, graduated with extra credits. It's not how you cut, it's when you cut.
ANYI
My high school generation saw the beginning of police intervention in truancy by way of sweeps in police paddy-wagons. I myself as a cutting student was too elusive to be caught up by those sweeps. But I knew that more drastic measures were in the near future. That was the year 2000. Flash forward to today. The Oakland School District has a new truancy center.
REED (on tape)
Our goal is to have a one-stop shop where they would come in and we can talk to them about what's going on in their lives.
ANYI
Ursula Reed is the director of the Oakland Truancy Attendance Program, or OTAP. She says there are social services that are all part of the package at OTAP - to help kids who might be cutting because of serious problems - homelessness, poverty, drug abuse.
REED (on tape)
We also need to find out what's the real reasons they're on the streets. If they need anything from us in order to get back in school. Why aren't they in school, if they have an issue as far as anger-management.
ANYI
While the truancy center sounds like a holistic environment, the intake process isn't quite so friendly. Sometimes police sweeps target certain high schools, like Macateer or Castlemont. After students are brought in by police roundups…Reed explains what happens next.
REED (on tape)
The student is also frisked. And they have to leave everything: cell phones, backpacks, hats, keys money, lighters, anything they have on them has to be taken away.
ANYI
As you can imagine, students aren't so receptive to the idea of being whisked away to West Oakland, and having to relinquish their funds and property… like in the case of one 16-year-old.
On this particular day, it was raining out, so only the cutters who were lackadaisical enough to get caught in the rain got picked up - like this kid.
The security guards checked him in and called home to notify his parents - only he doesn't really have a home- he lives in a group home. Security took his belongings and the intake process that followed was met with great resistance.
COPS (on tape)
Uh-uh, uh-uh!
KID (on tape)
You gonna take my money from me?
ANYI
After staff calmed him down, he finally gave up his stuff, but hid his cash…and then he was checked in, allowing the city of Oakland to count him as "present" for the day. Minutes later he bounced. Teacher Renita Pines explains:
PINES (on tape)
After going to the restroom he took off running. Ran past the school security officers, headed across the field in the back. We're going to have a lot of students like that. I'm concerned that he's ripping and running around the streets. Anything could happen.
ANYI
Other students are cooperative. Two sisters were quietly getting to work in the classroom…they were picked up near their school, Castlemont High.
STEPHANIE (on tape)
She got me in trouble. Me, for listening to her, I'm going to get in trouble too.
We went to get lunch and there were hella people outside. They just got us. We were going to 4th period and he just got us.
PAOLA (on tape)
We were gonna run but he got in front of us so where we gonna run to? It was kinda scary. I'm not gonna cut no more, I'm going to go to class everyday, I'm gonna graduate next year.
ANYI
She said the Truancy Center is better than her history class because she doesn't like the teacher.
So if you cut - A good teacher and meals are at the end of the rainbow.
The school district spends 900 thousand dollars and uses six staff salaries for the truancy center - money that could be spent at on elementary school students. But - it doesn't do anything to combat the attitude that makes kids cut in the first place.
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