Pre-truancy officer keeps kids in class by day, scares them in haunted houses at night

Keeping kids in class is key to their future success, and Doug Hughes is on the case.

Students who frequently miss school are more likely to fall behind academically, become socially disengaged and fail to graduate from high school on time, or at all, according to a February 2024 Minnesota Alliance With Youth report. Officers like Hughes are around to prevent that from happening.

A belief that recovery from even grave errors is possible with the right mindset has propelled Hughes, a 58-year-old New Ulm native. He went from a four-year stint as a sergeant with the Army’s 2nd Ranger Battalion to two decades as a corrections officer, retiring as a Brown County jail sergeant about three years ago.

Just a few months after that is when he saw the job for pre-truancy officer with Brown County Probation Department/Families First Children’s Collaborative advertised in the paper, and he’s been doing it ever since.

“Obviously, people — even kids — make mistakes,” Hughes said, “but I let them know, ‘Hey, there’s a different path; this doesn’t have to define you.’”

From September through May, Hughes’ mission is keeping seventh- through 12th-graders at school, focused on the goal of high school graduation and the opportunities that lie beyond it.

That method of positive motivation rather than scare tactics flips every autumn, though, when Hughes switches to his side hustle as the mastermind behind New Ulm Nightmares.

In an interview edited for clarity and length, Hughes shared what it’s like to be in his shoes.

A huge percentage of people I saw in jail hadn’t finished high school. I’d ask them about their educations and hear they’d made it through 10th, 11th grade or just didn’t get all the way to graduation.

In pre-truancy work, I have a chance to reach kids before they become truant. I give them real examples of what I’ve seen. Having coached kids in gymnastics, I know to talk to them as equals, not belittle or baby them.

First thing each morning, I send texts and say, “Have a great day,” which really means, “Get up and get to school.” Then I check attendance at every school in Brown County. School secretaries let me know within minutes which kids aren’t there. I’ll directly contact those students to see if they’re running late or need a ride. I’m not a taxi service, but if they reach out, I make sure they get to school. If a parent hasn’t noticed their child isn’t in school or has forgotten to call in [an excused absence], I’m in touch.

During the day, I confirm kids are in class and not wandering the hallways, and that they’ve returned to school after lunch. I meet one-on-one with students weekly when they’re new [to the pre-truancy program], and then less often as they go along. The less they see me, the better. Once they’ve finished the program and are consistently staying in school, I tell them they’ve done great. They get a certificate, a letter, sometimes a gift card [provided by the Optimist Club of New Ulm] and definitely a fist bump, a pat on the back and lots of praise.

The pre-truancy program kicks in when a student has three or more unexcused absences. I work with the student and parents to figure out whatever barriers they have before they become truant. Truancy is defined in Minnesota as nine or more unexcused absences — and they can have seven excused absences, which adds up to nearly a month of school missed. Human/family services get involved then; is it due to drug use, a single parent who’s too busy to keep track of them, or something else that’s going on?

Brown County is one of the few Minnesota counties with a pre-truancy program, and it’s been a huge success. Early intervention is the key, and it’s wonderful because it benefits kids, parents, teachers, the county —everybody.

I love working with kids, and I don’t want any to slip through the cracks. We were all kids once, and it’s fun to treat them like people, as equals, which is what I did with jail inmates, too. I can be stern, but I learned that treating others with kindness goes a long way toward getting them to cooperate.

I tell kids, “If you’ve been missing school, had some ‘vacation,’ it’s time to get back to work.” I share the truth of what can happen to them if they don’t graduate, and that, right now, school is their job, and their future self will thank their younger self for seeing it through.

And being positive and welcoming is important. You want a kid’s [school] day to start positive because maybe things weren’t so good at home. One person asking how they’re doing, complimenting their haircut or T-shirt, just noticing they’re present, can make their whole day better.

But I say, “You’ve got to be the parent; they’re still children.” I assure them they can do it, and it’s OK to ask for help.

I’ve always loved Halloween. The haunts started when I lived in Washington and did a haunted gym as a fundraiser for the gymnastics team I coached. This is the 11th year I’ve done haunted houses in New Ulm, with new themes every season.

My haunts are fictional worlds without religious or political themes or suggested suicides. I prefer paranormal creepiness, like what’s in the closet or lurking under your bed at night, over-the-top imagination scares — creaking doors, ghosts, windows that mysteriously open and close.

There’s real evil in the world, and it’s awful. But not everything in life has to be so serious. Creating a place that seems a little dangerous, but in reality is safe, is fun. The scares you get from [my haunt themes] “Mrs. Olson’s School for the Unusual” or “The Tripoli Brothers Cirkus” are all pretend.

Hearing screams followed by laughter is my favorite part. I’ve seen real horrors, and none of us needs more of that.