Truancy program at risk as funding bottoms out

Money is running dry for a successful truancy-fighting program in Montgomery County, leaving lawmakers and school officials scouring for other funding and ways to keep kids in school. The Truancy Court Program connects public middle school students with a judge and mentor each week, to figure out why the child is skipping school and put him or her back on track. Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring and Germantown’s Neelsville Middle School began the program in 2010 after a federal grant provided Maryland with $500,000 to roll out the program into four counties over three years.