School district, volunteers take on truancy issue

North Forest ISD and ACORN teamed up to stop truancy by sponsoring a Stop Truancy walk last Saturday.
The walk began at the Acorn Glenn Model Home near the intersection of Tidwell Road and Mesa Drive. ACORN members, North Forest ISD administrators, faculty and staff, and community volunteers went door to door, looking especially for high school-aged students that have not been attending school since the start of the 2007-2008 school year.
The volunteers hope to encourage those students to reenroll at Forest Brook or M.B. Smiley High Schools.
Many of the students contacted told school officials they were uncomfortable about returning to classes at Forest Brook High School after it began to share the campus with Smiley High.
This summer vandals broke into Forest Brook and created close to $1 million in damage. While repairs are being made at the school Forest brook students are being hosed at Smiley.
Local ACORN organizer Tophe Nosh said it’s important that North Forest gets the same attention that has been paid to larger school districts in the Houston area with regard to combating truancy and dropout rates.
“We need to make sure that everybody is looking out for this district,” Nosh said.
North Forest ISD’s Interim Superintendent of Schools William Jones is looking forward to the event and excited about working with ACORN.
“ACORN’s grassroots approach has proven successful in many areas, and we are certain this walk will help bolster enrollment and attendance,” he said. “Getting out, knocking on doors and telling students that we want and need them to reenroll in school is a great way to foster relationships with parents and students and to let them know that North Forest is here and that we care.”
ACORN is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families that work together for social justice and stronger communities.