Too many Florida kids are skipping school. What’s being done about it?

With absenteeism soaring after the pandemic, educators are looking for ways to reconnect with students — and their parents.

Tampa Bay Times | By Jeffrey S. Solochek | February 20, 2024

River Frey’s dad died his freshman year in high school, sending him into depression. He went to live with his mom, who descended into dementia while he was in the 10th grade.

As he moved around, school did not top his agenda.

“I didn’t do schoolwork. I was getting into trouble,” Frey said. “I wasn’t going to school at all.”

For his junior year, he entered Pasco County’s Anclote High School with 7.5 credits — just over a year’s worth of high school — and a grade-point average barely above 1.0. Things didn’t go so well that first semester, either, recalled Kristy DePerto, a teacher assigned to help struggling students graduate on time.

“The beginning of River’s story with me begins with destruction,” DePerto said. “It ends with him overcoming adversity.”

He slowly started coming to class, encouraged by his new girlfriend. A year later, he had perfect attendance, completed his course requirements and graduated early. Now he’s contemplating whether to become a teacher.

“Going to school can make a difference,” said Frey, 18, who attends St. Petersburg College.

His story is part of a larger trend as students across Tampa Bay, Florida and the nation are missing school at alarming rates.

About 31% of Florida students were chronically absentlast school year — up from 20% in 2018, according to the state Department of Education. They are kids who have missed at least 10% of their classes. And while their numbers have started to shrink slightly, educators remain worried.

The problem crosses demographic boundaries, with research from the American Enterprise Institute showing chronic absenteeism grew similarly across socioeconomic and racial groups. And it’s not easily solved.

“There is no obvious playbook,” said Nat Malkus, a fellow at the institute who has studied attendance since the pandemic.

“I wish I had the magic bullet,” he said during an institute webinar this past week. “But I don’t think there is one.”

“We told kids to … go home”

State lawmakers in Florida are among those sounding the alarm.

“In the past several years, we have put forth a lot of good policy in education. And that’s great,” said Rep. Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, who led conversations on absenteeism as chairpersonof a key education committee. “But it’s not great if children aren’t showing up and we’re not able to use the policies we put in place to create successful human beings and children and future leaders for our community.”

Lawmakers have not addressed the problem during the 2024 legislative session, which ends March 8. But many Florida school districts have taken steps to get more students in the seats.