When principals send unruly students home on suspension, North Miami police Officer Lazaro Miel often finds them climbing through house windows or spray-painting bus stops.

He catches some of them on their way to pawn shops, trading stolen goods for video games.

''No one's home and the kids are out on the street unsupervised,'' said Miel, who said he books at least half a dozen kids weekly. ``I find out they're suspended and the principals don't want them on campus.''

So next year, Miami-Dade school officials want to create content-based suspension centers to house students during the school day. Broward officials have already adopted a similar approach.

In 2005, about 29,000 students in Miami-Dade schools were sent home on so-called outdoor suspension, district records show. In Broward County, about 12,000 students were suspended last year, records show.

Some educators say suspension sometimes turns into a short vacation for trouble-making students, who then are free to get into more mischief.

Suspended students who commit certain violations of the code of conduct will be required to go to the centers. Some of the infractions include assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct and burglary. Students who receive outdoor suspension are usually sent home for up to 10 days.

Miami-Dade officials would develop a tailored curriculum for the new centers that will include conflict resolution and other forms of anger management intervention. Officials hope to address personal issues causing behavioral problems so that future trouble may be avoided.

''The centers can't just be holding pens for kids on suspension,'' said schools police Chief Gerald Darling. ``We're trying to see what's going on in their lives to see what's causing them to get suspended.''

Officials hope to open centers for the north and south parts of the county, said Mark Zaher, head of school operations and special programs. Zaher estimated the start-up cost for each center will be around $140,000.

The district has tried similar centers in the past, but most failed because suspended students weren't required to attend.

''A lot of the kids don't have an active parent to get them to the centers,'' Zaher said. ``It hasn't been working because attendance is voluntary.''

In Broward, suspended teens can voluntarily attend several alternative education centers. ''We don't expel or suspend students onto the street,'' district spokesman Keith Bromery said.

Zaher said that creating the Miami-Dade centers is just one phase of the district's larger goal of emphasizing prevention over punishment in regard to school discipline.

''The overall mission is to find alternatives to suspension instead of places to house kids,'' he said.

A study last May by the staff from the district's Civil Rights and Diversity Compliance office shed light on the toll that suspensions took on the academic future of a group of ninth-graders. Only 42 percent of the students were still enrolled in school three years later. Those who were suspended more than nine days were more than twice as likely as their peers to drop out.

''When we force them out on outdoor suspension, we're not connecting the kid with the school,'' Zaher said. ``The centers can be really productive for the kids that need to be there.''

Added Miel, the North Miami officer: ``Something has to be done, because they're causing problems out here.''

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