Nashua Superintendent Christopher Hottel told Board of Education members Monday night that he is looking into truancy issues at the Phoenix Program.

The Phoenix Program, located at 440 Amherst St., is used by the school district as an alternative placement for “at-risk” students in grades 6 through 10. It was previously known as the Academy of Learning and Technology. The alternative school, which was located in the basement of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua, was closed in 2008, and was reopened as an off-site program at the start of the school year.

According to school district enrollment data, nearly half of the school’s students - 33 out of 76 - are habitually truant this year. That means those students have missed at least 10 days unexecused this year. In March, The Telegraph reported on the truancy rate at each school.

Hottel said he was asked by the board to look into the truancy at the program. He said it is an issue.

“It’s a challenged population,” Hottel told the board Monday night. “If there is any school or program where this is going to be an issue, it’s going to be at the Phoenix Program.”

Tags: Nashua, phoenix program, truancy