PROGRAM KEEPS PROBLEM YOUTHS IN EDUCATION LOOP

The circuit court in Butler County and the Poplar Bluff School District have pooled their resources to come up with an efficient and effective way to deal with juvenile crime.

William G. Hentz School in Poplar Bluff is a day-treatment program to keep students in trouble from becoming mired in more intensive and expensive juvenile delinquency programs. The school is a sort of middle stop for youths who have discipline problems in school but haven't yet been placed in the juvenile courts system.

It has to be frustrating for public school teachers who must decide whether to give extra attention to disruptive students in hopes of changing their behavior or remove them from class and focus their teaching on students eager to learn. That is where the idea of alternative schools come in.

The program is designed for 10 to 12 juveniles ranging in academic levels from seventh grade to their senior year in high school with each student assigned to Hentz School for at least one school semester. A teacher will work with each student to help improve social skills and to instill respect for authority.

Officials say the school will cost $3,333 per student each semester, which compares to about $34,000 to place a student in a juvenile detention program for six months. Instead of spending time in a jail-like setting, the student is able to remain at home and attend school.

In Springfield, a similar program has dramatically improved the academic performance of some of the students. Indeed, the Division of Youth Services will monitor the school to ensure it shows at least a 75 percent success rate. If the school isn't successful in advancing students toward a diploma, the state will pull its funding.

The Cape Girardeau School District and other schools in the area have implemented components of the program in Poplar Bluff within their schools. But a lack of funding has prevented them from starting a full-fledged alternative school like Hentz School in Poplar Bluff.

If Hentz School succeeds, the idea of alternative schools will catch on. If that happens, schools -- and the state Legislature -- need to budget education funds accordingly.