There, they await their parents in a cramped processing center, sitting on a bench next to young people suspected of crimes that might include murder, rape, robbery and burglary.

In the first semester of this school year, the system sent more than 600 students -- via rides in police or sheriff's cruisers -- to Strickland, according to Pat Cannedy, the intake supervisor at the youth detention center in Mobile. 

About 450 of them did not belong there, Cannedy said. That number represents students accused of harassment, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass on school property.

Such students may need to sit out from school, Cannedy said, but they certainly should not hang around in jail, where they can interact with seriously troubled young criminals.

Cannedy and Juvenile Judge Edmond Naman said they hope that three new Strickland initiatives can address the concern, starting this year.

One of those -- a reception center -- should be ready by the August start of the 2008-09 school year, Cannedy said.

In cases such as minor school fights, for example, police will still ferry students to the Strickland complex on Costarides Street. But they will go to the reception center in a prefabricated building behind the detention center, Cannedy said.

There, detention and intake officers will meet with parents and be able to access social services and counseling that the students may need.

"I do think it's going to be a wonderful thing for our schools," said Andrea Barbour, the Mobile County schools assistant superintendent who handles discipline issues.
The two other Strickland initiatives also focus on students and will be housed in another available building:

A day program staffed by a teacher will work with students who have been suspended or expelled.

An evening program will provide supervision and counseling for some of the same students, as well as troubled youths who are still enrolled in school.

Both should be ready to start during the fall, although a number of details remain under development.

The reception center would be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to a tentative schedule.

Cannedy said the reception center will also handle runaways and young people picked up on certain probation violations but not necessarily taken from school.

But the center will not deal with felony offenders, nor with some misdemeanor offenders, such as teens caught carrying guns, she said. They will still earn a trip to the Strickland jail.

Strickland officials do not have a final cost for the new programs, though it costs $150 a day to hold a youth in the jail. Medicaid should cover much of the cost for the day program, which would be the most expensive of the three, Cannedy said.

While Naman and Cannedy are advocating a softer approach for some minor offenders, scaring teens straight has always been an acclaimed approach.

For instance, Assistant District Attorney Ashley Rich said during an underage drinking task force meeting last week, a teen charged with alcohol possession might change his attitude after a night in jail sleeping next to a suspected killer.

Naman said he prefers other methods, such as victim panels and parent involvement. Putting them in jail could do more harm than good, he said.

"Let me repeat -- we have robbers, we have rapists and murderers," Naman said.