How D.C.'s failure to curb truancy fueled a surge in youth crime

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How D.C.'s failure to curb truancy fueled a surge in youth crime

As the first bell rang at Brookland Middle School on April 3, 2024, Irving LaBoard’s desk sat empty. An hour earlier, police had found his body in Fort Dupont Park. He had been shot and killed.Irving was 14, an eighth-grader. Growing up, he was a strong reader who loved tossing footballs, playing the piano and analyzing the deeper meaning of Marvel movies. But in the last year of his life, Irving was detained in Maryland after being accused of stealing cars, then arrested and charged in the District with theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle.Weeks before his death, Nadine ..