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Highlands Today

School Attendance Up After Storm

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: August 21, 2008

SEBRING - Student attendance increased Wednesday after schools were closed Tuesday due to Tropical Storm Fay, which caused few problems in the district.

"Opening school went well again this morning even after the storm, other than just a few isolated issues," Superintendent Wally Cox said. The storm caused a leak in one room at Lake Placid High School.
Deputy Superintendent of Business Operations Mike Averyt said "we had a few leaks, but nothing major."

Lake Country Elementary School reported leaks in one or two portable classrooms, but that happens sometimes just from heavy rains, he said.
School attendance on Wednesday (11,832) increased by 420 compared to Monday's attendance (11,412).

"We are monitoring the attendance today Wednesday," Averyt said.

The first day of school on Monday was unusual with an approaching storm. Some parents kept their children home. So, the enrollment/attendance count from Wednesday will provide a better comparison with last year's first-day attendance.

Despite Wednesday's increase, the second-day student count was still about 1 percent less than last year's first-day count of 11,940.

Along with the first-day attendance, the fifth- and 10th-day attendance/enrollment counts are used to help predict how many students will be enrolled in the school district in October, Averyt said. District funding is based in part on the number of students attending school during a state-wide survey week in October.

The school transportation department notified parents in flooded areas to have their children use other nearby bus stops. A few buses were about 10 to 15 minutes late in arriving at school.

"That's a safety issue, we just can't pass on roads that are flooded," District Transportation Director David Solomon said. "We had a few buses that were late, but that was to be expected. Overall we didn't have any major problems."

Buses had to be rerouted around street flooding in the Leisure Lakes area. Flooded roads included: Miller Avenue, Violet Drive, Michele Avenue and Pondfield Road.

Flooding on portions of Cowhouse Road near Lorida also affected school bus routes.

Memorial Elementary School Principal Ruby Handley said the storm had no effect on the new school.

"Everybody was ready to go this morning; it was looking good; traffic flowing good," she said.

Parents continued to enroll their children at the school on Wednesday, but not as many as there were on Monday, Handley said.

The school's attendance increased by 18 students from 638 on Monday to 656 on Wednesday.

Avon Elementary School's attendance jumped by 35 students from 554 on Monday to 589 on Wednesday.

The Florida Department of Education will decide at a later date whether or not the missed day of school will have to be made up.

Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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