Schools have been fighting truancy for years and now OPS is getting help. The city has received a grant to fund a new truancy program, different than the one you may remember.

The program is only three months old and not the kind of program used in past years where officers went to track down students cutting class.

When James Stokes of the Truancy Abatement Program goes out to check on students missing from school, he's not checking the video arcades. He knows exactly where he's going.

"The kids we're servicing are kids in diversion programs or probation. A lot of them have already been in the juvenile county attorney’s office for truancy issues."

Stokes is looking for high-risk students and wants them off the streets where they can get in trouble. He points to the recent outbreak in robberies and other crimes that won’t be a worry when the students are in class.

"What we want to do is get these kids into school so we're not having those issues during the day. If the kids are in the school they're gonna get their diplomas, they're gonna have options outside of just crime."

There are only three people who work in the Truancy Abatement Program dealing with 250 students, but there are hundreds of others who need the help.

Abdul Muhammad handles the students once Officer Stokes brings them into the program. "We focus on attendance, tardies once in school. Once we get on track with that we convert that to academics."

Muhammad says they don’t just want to get the kids back in class they want them to be successful. The program is still very young and right now they say a lot of their success is due to the parents who work with the officers to keep their kids in school.

The program is currently dealing with OPS high school kids, but other districts have shown an interest.