083-1999 LTC
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
CITY HALL 1700 CONVENTION CENTER DRIVE MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA 33139
http:\\ci.miami-beach.fLus
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L.T.C. No. 83-1999
LETTER TO COMMISSION
April 2, 1999
TO:
Mayor Neisen Kasdin
Members of the City Commission
FROM:
Sergio Rodriguez
City Manager
SUBJECT:
The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, in conjunction with Miami-Dade County
Public Schools, administers the Truancy Intervention Program (TIP). TIP channels resources
from the State Attorney's Office to target habitual truants (students with 10 or more unexcused
absences) to ensure school attendance. State law requires youth under the age of 16 to attend
school. Last school year, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce's Education Committee asked
the State Attorney's Office to extend TIP to all Miami Beach feeder pattern schools. In School
Year 1998/99, the Miami Beach feeder pattern is the only feeder pattern in the district with TIP
at the elementary, middle and senior high school levels.
In October 1998, the Office of Children's Affairs (OCA) hosted a meeting with the following
participants: Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce
Education Committee, and principals from all Miami Beach feeder pattern schools. The purpose
of this meeting was to determine the steps that should be taken to ensure the successful
implementation of TIP in our community's schools. From this meeting, all parties agreed to
adopt a uniform attendance policy (as policies varied from school to school) and to utilize the
Office of Children's Affairs as a resource in providing intervention services to youths with
attendance problems.
Since October, the Office of Children's Affairs has actively sought to provide support for Miami
Beach feeder schools in their implementation of TIP including the provision of referral services
to City of Miami Beach resources and community service providers. In addition, the OCA has
offered its resources with the Neighborhoods First Support Team to conduct home visits to those
students whose homes are located within the Team's target area (North Beach).
Since October, the DCA and the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee have pressed the
schools to provide information regarding the scope of the truancy problem within our City.
While progress has been slow, Jack Gilbert, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Region II
Director, assured the Education Committee at its March 22, 1999 meeting that feeder pattern
schools would cooperate fully to provide the needed information and are committed to TIP's
success. The State Attorney's Office has been cooperating fully since October 1998 and has
called upon the OCA to intercede on behalf of Miami Beach youth.
Truancy is a significant concern as it is a precursor to progressively greater delinquent behavior
among youth. The OCA believes that a proactive effort to reduce truancy, while important to
academic success, will also have the added benefit of addressing delinquency-related issues such
as gang involvement and criminal behavior. A proactive stance against truancy will reduce the
City's need for police intervention at other stages.
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