St. Louis County targets rising truancy problem in schools At a County Board meeting Tuesday in Proctor, commissioners voted enthusiastic support for a program to put three dozen mentors into county schools for the next three years. 5:06 pm, Jul. 27, 2021 × (Getty Images) After an untold number of students fell off track during the pandemic, St. Louis County will spend big on reconnecting children with their schools. Acting to stem a truancy problem created during a year of mostly remote learning, commissioners moved forward Tuesday during their meeting in Proctor with a plan to spend 10% of the county’s $54 million in federal pandemic recovery funding to install mentors in schools.