Washington County is the first in Maryland to initiate this new type of truancy program to keep students in school. So far out of the10 kids school officials began to work with, eight of them have gone back to school. Washington County School Board officials credit their success to their new approach to dealing with absentism. Its a joint effort between the school officials and the Department of Juvenile Services. The idea is not to just send a student who is skipping school straight into the court system. Instead, school officials work with both the child and parent; where they meet with Department of Juvenile Services case workers. During the meeting they discuss any family issues and offer crisis services to the family. From this point school officials will monitor the childs attendance for six weeks before taking any legal action. School officials said both the parent and the student can be penalized for missed attendance. "Were able to work with the students and theres the threat if they dont reform, there could be legal action against the student. They could be taken out of their home, placed in a juvenile detention center or any other consequences the court sees fit," said Carol Costello, from the Washington County Public Schools. This program is targeting students between the ages of 12 and 15 because the agencies involved felt at that age students can also be responsible for missing school. Reported by Sinu Abraham" More than a Dozen Firefighters Respond to Afternoon Fire,1154989471,1154989471,"[img align=left]http://www.nbc25.com/main/uploads/sabraham_1154990044_garage-fire-.gif[/img]HAGERSTOWN, MD- Fire and Rescue officials in Hagerstown were called to the scene of a garage fire just before 3 oclock Monday afternoon.