With juvenile crime soaring in Baltimore City, council members are calling for a hearing to address what could be part of the problem, students not in school.
The number of chronically absent students has become a city crisis.
“Causation or correlation, not really sure,” said City Council President Nick Mosby following a recent council hearing.
Juvenile crime and chronic absenteeism are two major problems in Baltimore, and the City Council wants to know if one is driving the other.
“But that’s the point of the hearing to really try to understand and know. One, where we are with the numbers? Two, where we come from? And three, what are the things that we can do to ensure that we are getting to our young children before they get to some of these unproductive acts?” Mosby told Fox45 News.
Council members are calling for a hearing with school leaders to address the soaring number of students considered chronically absent, which could help explain why juvenile crime is also on the rise.
"If they're not in school, where are they? We're not saying it’s tied to that but maybe after we find out what the data is, maybe it can be tied,” said Councilman Robert Stokes.
Chronic absenteeism, in Maryland, is defined as a student who misses more than 10 percent of school. Historically, Baltimore City has struggled to get kids in school, and last year was among the hardest. The number of students considered chronically absent hit a 20-year high.
In 2016, state standards for determining if a student is chronically absent changed. Baltimore City Schools began recording half-day student attendance, which caused a significant increase in the absenteeism rate.
That year, 23 percent of City students were chronically absent. Fast forward to 2022, and 58 percent of Baltimore City students were chronically absent, which was the highest level in the state. For the first time, in at least two decades, more students were chronically absent than were not.
Meanwhile, the number of school-aged people being murdered is increasing. As of May 24, there have been 14 people murdered in Baltimore who are 18 years old or younger. At the same point last year, that number was 11.
And so far, in 2023, as of Friday, five juveniles, between the ages of 10 and 17, have been arrested in connection with homicides.
City officials say they are trying to counter the crime with a new plan to enforce the youth curfew for anyone under 17.
The plan unveiled last week is called "B'More This Summer”. City leaders say while police help enforce the curfew, civilian youth engagement workers will be on hand to take kids to youth centers. Parents can face fines up to $500 if their children violate curfew three times by the end of August.
"Comparing this year to last year, between 9 p.m. and midnight, we saw a 100-plus percent increase in youth homicides, shootings, and acts of violence," said Shantay Jackson, outgoing director of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.
But for some, the connection between absent students and juvenile crime doesn’t come as a surprise.
“Some of the students not educated now, will be some of the students we’ll be attending funerals for, later on,” Dr. Tyrone Powers a Former FBI Agent told Project Baltimore in February 2021.
Powers spent 14 years in local and federal law enforcement. He predicted the spike in crime, back in 2021, after Covid shut down schools.
“If the school system cannot find students who are supposed to be in the school during the day, then the criminal justice system is probably going to be somehow linked to finding those students either before they commit a crime or immediately afterwards,” said Powers.
“You're saying that local law enforcement agencies in the city have to plan for a possible increase in crime because of the virtual learning and students dropping out or failing?” Asked Project Baltimore’s Chris Papst.
“Absolutely,” replied Powers. “Unless you get that education piece right, unless all of the other entities, all of the other agencies work with the CEO to get those education things right, all of them are going to be dealing with a virus of another sort.”