A Nueces County justice of the peace is doing his part to abate the truancy problem at local schools.
Tonight, a hundred parents and students showed up at the Nueces County Courthouse for Parent Academy. However, the act wasn’t completely voluntary. In fact, Judge Joe Benavides ordered them to attend the session this evening after the students missed too many classes without good reason. Judge Benavides talked to the group on the importance of education, truancy laws, and parent involvement in the student’s education.
He says these types of programs are successful because of the collaboration between his court and local nonprofits providing information and resources to parents and students who are struggling with issues beyond class attendance.
“A lot of parents reach out to these nonprofits. There’s a lot of parents that don’t know where to go that need the assistance from these nonprofits,” explains Judge Benavides,
He wants the students to understand the correlation between education and job opportunities.
“A lot of the economic engines around here, the large cooperations are looking for graduates. They are not looking for dropouts, and we have an epidemic of drops outs here in Nueces County.”
Representatives from Del Mar College were also present tonight to discuss financial aid for college.
