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.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.
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.
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 absent last 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.
Submitted February 20, 2024 at 10:17AM by TampaBayTimes https://ift.tt/c7PFqdG
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