Attorney General's News Release

Feb. 27, 1998

Nixon promotes alternative schools as way to avoid a future behind bars in dedication speech at new prison

Bowling Green, Mo. — Alternative schools are a far better alternative than a future behind bars for at-risk juveniles, Attorney General Jay Nixon said today in a speech dedicating the new 1,900-bed Northeast Correctional Center near Bowling Green.

Nixon has been actively promoting continued state funding for alternative schools as a way to fight crime. The Safe Schools Act provides 75 percent of the funding from the state for the first year of a district's alternative school program and 50 percent for the second year. State funding after the second year is uncertain.

"Alternative schools remove disruptive students from the classroom so other students can learn in an appropriate environment, but offer those at-risk kids a real chance to continue learning," Nixon said. "If we don't try to keep those at-risk kids directed at a future as productive members of society, there's a good chance they might end up incarcerated in facilities such as this."

The new correctional center contains a 50-bed wing for juveniles certified as adults. Those juveniles will be kept out of the older general population, but will be incarcerated under the Department of Corrections and not in juvenile facilities with less dangerous offenders.

"The juveniles who will stay here are the ones who have crossed the line," Nixon said. "The public demanded that we change our approach in dealing with these most dangerous juveniles. When we revamped the juvenile code two years ago, we worked to instill accountability into the system, which is essential when dealing with juveniles. It is not the length of the punishment for juvenile offenders that is most important, it is the fact that there is some form of punishment or accountability."

Nixon said alternative schools can help identify those juveniles who are most at risk and provide the individualized learning atmosphere they need through separate education and counseling opportunities, while not allowing disruptive students to slow the progress of the entire class or threaten the discipline or safety of the school.

"I have visited many of these schools, and I know this is an effort worthy of our support," Nixon said. "I urge the General Assembly to continue its commitment to funding alternative schools."

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All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

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