Nearly four dozen children were arrested, and four parents were cited Thursday during an unannounced countywide truancy sweep, officials said.
The sweep netted 20 high school students, 24 middle schoolers and one 10-year-old elementary school pupil, according to a news release.
More than two dozen officers from various law enforcement agencies fanned out, making 200 stops across the city and the county, the release said.
They also made 20 visits to homes of students whose schools report them as being chronically truant.
Three parents were cited on suspicion of failing to send their children to school, the release said.
Another was cited on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
"Parents must realize they will be held responsible if their children do not attend school," said Gene Bertie, director of the Pima County Attorney's Office ACT Now Truancy Program.
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Added Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, "It is the mission of the (program) to get students back in school in order to prevent their involvement in future criminal activity.
"By conducting these sweeps, we hold juveniles who are chronically truant accountable."
Thursday's sweep targeted the Tucson, Vail, Catalina Foot-hills, Flowing Wells, Marana, Tanque Verde, Amphitheater and Sunnyside school districts.
