SAN ANTONIO, Texas - August 24, 2008 - Habitual truants in San Antonio are to be fitted with satellite tracking systems under a new program to crack down on non-attendance.

Under the scheme, courts will be able to order pupils with a record of skipping school to wear ankle bracelets with Global Positioning System monitoring, similar to those issued to convicted criminals.

Linda Penn, a Bexar County justice of the peace, said she expected about 50 students in four San Antonio-area school districts would wear the anklets during a six-month pilot project. She said the length of time the students would have to wear the anklets would be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Authorities are concerned about the link between truancy and juvenile delinquency and criminal activity.

"We are at a critical point in our time where we can either educate or incarcerate," Ms. Penn said. "We can teach them now or run the risk of possible incarceration later on in life. I don't want to see the latter."

Targeted pupils, expected to mostly be teenagers, will not be allowed to remove the ankle bracelets. Those selected for tagging would include students with gang affiliations, a history of running away and playing truant and those with multiple court appearances.

"Students and parents must understand that attending school is not optional," Ms. Penn said. "When they fail to attend school, they are breaking the law."