Opinion: Stay in school (if we let you)

Leon Smith is director of the Alternative Schools Project at the Center for Children’s Advocacy.

Juvenile court judges are passionate about education and frequently tell young people in their courtrooms how important it is to stay in school. Judges know that a high school diploma is a life-changing thing. Most people in state prisons have not completed high school. The average educational level in these facilities is 10th grade.

Unfortunately many children leaving the juvenile justice system find that it is difficult to re-enroll in their former schools — even when re-enrollment is a condition of probation or parole. They are met with disdain and made to feel unwelcome by administrators and staff, who discourage their return. Instead of having one place or point person to go to in order to get re-engaged in school, they and their parent at times are forced run all over town to multiple places just to try to get back into school. They may find that any credits they’ve earned while in state care have not been transferred back to their home school. These artificial barriers create a thick barrier of red tape that keeps them out of the classroom.

To put that in concrete terms: Suppose John spent a total of six months away from his school between detention and placement in a residential facility. He applied himself in the classroom and completed enough credits to be junior. But upon his release, his home district tells him that they have no evidence of his school work and that he is a sophomore in their eyes. Despite his hard work academically in placement, the lack of communication between the juvenile justice system and the school system means that he is facing the prospect of being a year behind his friends when he walks in the door.

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