COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A community effort is underway in the Northland area to fix the high truancy rates.
Columbus City Schools, Columbus police and community leaders said they're committed to protecting citizens and students, NBC 4's Candice Lee reported.
In October, the Columbus Division of Police launched its truancy patrol in the Northland area.
The effort has given school district officials, police and community leaders an idea of how many students are skipping class and the havoc some of them are wreaking in local neighborhoods.
Year to year, truancy numbers at Northland, Beechcroft and Brookhaven have more than doubled.
Police said that since October, 56 Brookhaven High School students have been picked up by police, followed by 46 students from Northland High School and 25 from Beechcroft High School.
Last year, the numbers stood at 19, three and six, respectively.
Columbus police Officer Scott Clinger, the community liaison for precinct 18, tells me that several students face felony charges for various crimes.
"We had 21 attempted burglaries and burglaries. These were in a very short period of time," Clinger said.
But thanks to a community effort, some of those individuals were caught.
Leaders came together to find a solution.
Northland Community Council President Dave Paul said the group is poised to make a different by encouraging the sharing of truancy information between CCS and police, improving communication between CCS and NCC and possibly the creation of a truancy court to handle repeat offenders.
"Obviously we are going to continue to work with the community. That's very important to us and hear their concerns," said Kim Norris, Columbus City Schools spokeswoman.
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