OCPS will stop providing excused absences for students not showing up due to COVID concerns

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is urging parents to stop keeping their children home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning Monday, OCPS staff said they will no longer be able to provide excused absences for students being kept at home because of health and safety concerns due to COVID-19.

Officials said in a news release that the number of cases has continued to decline and absences provide additional strain on teachers as they manage assignments for a large number of absent students.

MORE NEWS: Florida's COVID-19 hospitalizations drop in past week

OCPS also said the state has not extended "the quarantine code to be used in accommodation of absences in our attendance records, so students should be considered truant for non-attendance."

OCPS said it will continue to require face masks through the month of February for adults and strongly encourages them for students.

For those parents and guardians wanting to keep their children at home, officials say students can still be enrolled in home-schooling.

Visit ocps.net for more information.

OCPS said students exhibiting illness or symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home until they're feeling better.

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