Orange County parents take issue with truancy problem in public schools
Friday Channel 9 saw groups of kids filling business parking lots instead of classrooms.
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This has been an ongoing problem in Central Florida since the pandemic.
Orange County School District has surpassed the state average for student absences.
Channel 9 received complaints from community members about large groups of students skipping school and causing a disturbance in the community.
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Channel 9 drove past and saw groups of kids hanging out instead of sitting in their classrooms.
In an interview, Orange County Superintendent Maria Vazquez called attendance a challenge, as 27% of the district’s students were chronically absent- missing 21 days in a school year in 2021-2022.
“We used guidance counselors and staff to go out and do home visits,” Vazquez said. “Make parents aware their child is missing school.”
Channel 9 spoke to a mom from Winter Park, she is aware her kids are missing school but it’s not by choice.
“If the parent has to be at work at 8:00 a.m. and the bus is supposed to come at 8:30 what happens if the bus doesn’t show up?” Ebony Kingwood said.
Kingwood said her children have missed three days since January.
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Their bus has either come early without warning or significantly late and she doesn’t have a car to make up for the inconsistencies.
“Either they stay home, or I have to find a ride for them to get to school,” Kingwood said.
Community members spoke up about the impacts of the students who chose not to go to class, some businesses lock their doors.
“We have had a reduction in the number of students who are chronically absent but our percentage is still in the 20s,” Vazquez said.
OCPS would not provide the data reflecting the reduction.
In September, the district said it was working to hire a truancy interventionist, we learned it has not done it yet.
The district also acknowledged transportation issues playing a role in some absences.
I asked what plans they discussed or made to address that issue.
They did share plans that addressed the transportation problem but said students won’t be penalized due to transportation issues.
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