KVOA

Posted: Jan 27, 2010 5:40 PM
Updated: Jan 27, 2010 7:02 PM

CORPUS CHRISTI - The West Oso School District is turning to GPS technology to make sure that their students attend school everyday.

Truant students who were brought before Prec. 1 Justice of the Peace Henry Santana were given GPS monitoring devices to wear. Some parents say it is a symbol of hope.

"That's just great because what they do is tell us anything', mom I'm at school.' How do we know you are at school? You're calling on the phone and you're at school? No you're not at school, so when they put that monitor on them I bet they will go to school," said Gloria Richardson whose daughter received one of the devices.

Students feel it will help their future.

"I want to be a pediatrician, and I want to be in the nursing field so that's what I want to do, and I think this will help me," Shanice Duhart who goes to West Oso High School.

The Attendance Improvement Management company started this program across the country. They say the program works.

"We call these kids in the morning to make sure they are up and ready to go, and then throughout the day we interact with these kids 6 to 8 times a day. We have them doing something or we're interacting with them and the reason we do that is to keep these students engaged and to hold them accountable and make sure they are doing what they need to be doing," said CEO of AIM Travis Knox.

The attendance rate at West Oso is about 90% to 95%, but the district wants to improve that and with the purchase of 25 of these GPS devices. Duhart is going home with one of them and says it will help her friends out too.

"That will be good for them because they'll go to school instead of disobeying their parents and not going to school and skipping and doing what they don't need to be doing," said Duhart.