County uses truancy prevention grant for youths’ career exposure
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By Marc Robertson
High school students at Cotulla ISD will be among the first targeted with a new grant-funded program offered by the county government to boost attendance.
Designed as an incentive to reduce truancy, the educational project introduced by Juvenile Probation Officer Kassandra Valenzuela will give teens a variety of glimpses at professional careers in which they may develop interest.
The project was outlined Monday, July 20, to county commissioners as part of the announcement that La Salle County has been awarded a grant of more than $22,000 from the office of the Texas governor for truancy prevention.
Valenzuela said she believes teens will stay in school and will look forward to attending school if they are offered programs that help broaden their view of adult life and their possible places in the future workforce.
Although still in its early stages of development for La Salle, the truancy prevention effort is expected to include presentations, job exposure and in-depth explanations from local professionals on educational requirements, training, job duties and opportunities, and an overview of life in various careers.
The chief probation officer and other county officials noted on Monday that there is interest among many adolescents in law enforcement and emergency responder careers. Those, Valenzuela said, would be among the first that Cotulla students may learn more about in the program.
The requirement for attending the career events will be that students taking part maintain a school attendance rate of at least 90 percent.
Valenzuela said she hopes to coordinate efforts with the municipal court judge in order to reach students with poor attendance records in order to encourage them to return to school regularly and take advantage of the workshop sessions.
County Attorney Elizabeth Martinez supported the incentive program on Monday and said she believes all efforts to improve school attendance can play a significant role in student success.
“We need them in school,” the county attorney said. “Truancy is not a criminal offense anymore. We need them to come to school so that we can give them career experiences.”
“This is an incentive program,” JPO Valenzuela said. “It’s geared towards truancy prevention, to encourage them to come. Right now, we are planning to focus on students in ninth through twelfth grades.”
“This is the program I envision,” County Judge Leodoro Martinez III said. “Catch them early enough and keep them straight, so that they can become productive citizens.”
“Our goal is to expose them to all different kinds of careers,” Valenzuela said.
The county judge noted that the competitive grant award is being made to La Salle County for the first time this year, other South Texas counties having edged out local applications in the past.
“The JPO went against offices in Dimmit, Zavala and other counties in pushing for this grant,” Martinez said. “This is a good way to get some money into the community to help our kids.”
