ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Starting Monday, Orange County Public Schools has a revised absentee policy; students who stay home voluntarily to avoid COVID-19 exposure will not be marked "excused."
What You Need To Know
- Orange County Schools officials say the absentee policy must be brought in line with truancy laws
- Announced last Wednesday; some parents weren’t happy at the news
- RELATED: OCPS: Absences to avoid COVID-19 exposure are no longer excused
Going forward, only students who miss school because they were ordered to quarantine will be excused.
Parents like Lora Vail are not happy at the change. She kept her son home for two days when she learned there were three coronavirus cases in his class.
“It’s just one more choice that they’re taking away from us, who are concerned about COVID,” Vail said.
OCPS stated the change must happen in order to bring its policy in line with truancy laws, since the state is no longer allowing voluntary absences to count like quarantine absences do.
Last week in Orange County, 952 new student and staff COVID-19 cases were reported. That means cases are dropping, but it are still high compared to last year.
OCPS officials said they have asked for more state guidance on the matter.
