ST. JOSEPH — If Berrien County commissioners in the administration committee didn’t see the value in keeping the county truancy academy, they probably do now.

Julie Weber, truancy officer with the academy, gave an update to administration committee commissioners Thursday for the first time since the county board voted to re-open the school last August.

Lack of funding led the academy to close its doors in June, but a partnership between the county trial court and the Berrien Springs school district allowed it to stay open this school year.

The academy began in 2000 to help Berrien County middle school students with poor school attendance to develop good study and life skills so they can return to their respective schools.

Weber said the average male who drops out of school will incur $265,000 in criminal justice costs over his lifetime. She also noted that 80 percent of those in prison were truant during their high school career.

Mac Elliott, 11th district commissioner, said those facts speak for themselves.

“The canary in the coal mine is truancy,” he said. “If we can deal with it here, maybe we won’t have to deal with it five, six years later when they’re a young adult.”

The academy serves about 20 students a semester, preparing them to succeed at their home school district.

“It’s not a magic bullet,” Weber told commissioners. “But it’s planting a huge seed.”

The program not only teaches core classes, conflict resolution, team building and appropriate social behavior to the students but it also includes the parents through a program called Parenting with Love and Limits.

“Often parents are complicit in a child’s truancy,” Weber said. “It’s a family issue.”

Out of the 13 school districts in the county, 10 are sending students to the truancy academy.

St. Joseph, Lakeshore and Benton Harbor school districts are not participating in the program. Benton Harbor Area Public Schools has more than 30 percent truancy, according to Weber.

“Some of the larger districts are not releasing students because they don’t want to lose the dollars,” Weber said. “I understand where they’re coming from, but you have to look at the bigger picture.”

The academy, which serves students ages 12 to 15, will have 19 students in the upcoming fall semester.