Documentary chronicles one town's truancy fight

I've been reading a fair amount about truancy lately, and I came across this documentary by KVIE-TV, a public television station in Sacremento, Calif. "High School Dropouts" was part of the station's "ViewFinder" public affairs program, and it looked at the problems truancy and dropouts cause in one California community and that community's attempt to deal with it.

YorkCounts is in the middle of a series of town halls that focus on this subject. We're trying to throw a light on the same problems that exist in York County, by focusing on the United Way's Stay in School Report, and to tell folks that there are programs that exist that can help keep kids in school. The next town hall is 6:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at William Penn Senior High School.

The numbers in the United Way report are compelling, but they don't quite tell the story the way this film from California does. If you want to see the human toll that truancy has on a community, watch this video. Then come to our town hall and hear what we can do right now to help parents, challenge students, engage businesses and make all of our public schools better.

- Dan Fink

Truancy effort aims for grant

An article in the Nov. 19 York Daily Record reports that the York County commissioners applied for a $75,000 state grant that would pay for an anti-truancy specialist for York County. This is great news for the fight to reduce truancy and dropout rates. The United Way of York County recently made public the YorkCounts-United Way Stay in School Report, and one of the recommendations in the report is to expand the work of Judge John Uhler's truancy prevention task force. A key part of that would involve hiring a full-time coordinator. It sounds like this grant would be a big step in that direction.

- Dan Fink

Survey to bring vital data on youth

From today's York Dispatch:

York County students are being surveyed through Nov. 13 to gather data about their behavior, their attitudes and their knowledge about alcohol, tobacco, drugs and violence.
The Pennsylvania Youth Survey will be administered to students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades in 15 of the county's 16 school districts and several charter schools.

The article says this will be the first time so many York County schools will participate in the survey. Why is that important? More students responding means more and better data, and that will help local officials better identify issues, assess programs and target spending needs.

In the bigger picture, this is a key part of the effort to reduce gang violence and youth crime and the related issues of truancy and school dropout rates. YorkCounts will hold a series of town halls on that very subject, starting with the first event in Dover on Nov. 9. The town halls, "Kids, Truancy and a County at Risk," will focus on the YorkCounts-United Way's Stay in School Report.

- Dan Fink

YorkCounts sets first town hall in Dover

YorkCounts will travel to Dover Senior High School Nov. 9 for the first in a series of town halls to engage York County residents in a conversation about the work of YorkCounts. The first three town halls - the next ones will be in January and February - will focus on the United Way's Stay in School Report, and especially Judge John Uhler's Truancy Task Force work. YorkCounts is partnering with Dover Area School District to present this first town hall, which will start at 6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium. For more information, contact Dan Fink at 650-1460 or dfink@yorkcounts.org.

- Dan Fink