schoolsearch: Requests for special attendance permits are expected to plunge

Requests for special attendance permits are expected to plunge

Since they are part of choice and parents can now pick their schools, the district estimates a falloff as high as 80 percent.

By SHARON L. BOND, Neighborhood Times Business Editor
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 15, 2002

As of next year, parents in Pinellas County will get more of a chance to choose the public schools their children attend, so there should be a dramatic drop in the number who seek special attendance permits for particular schools.

Also, students who this year have approved medical reasons to attend certain schools will be allowed to stay where they are under controlled choice, so they won't be seeking special permits either.

Kathy Walker, director of school assignment for Pinellas County, estimates the drop in the number seeking permits could be as high as 80 percent.

The district got 7,523 requests for special attendance permits this year, the majority of which were granted.

Special permits will be part of choice. Applications will be available on Monday in the Family Education and Information Centers. The county will be divided into four attendance areas for elementary schools and three for middle schools, and parents can apply to send their children to schools in areas other than their choice area.

Special attendance permits are prohibited within areas because choice answers this need. Thus, none will be available for high schools since high schools all are in one area that is countywide.

Whether a student gets a special attendance permit will not be known until the choice process is finished, probably February, Walker said. Parents who plan on trying to get a special attendance permit must complete the choice process first. Permits are good for one year. Bus transportation for students attending schools in different areas on permits is offered on a space-available basis.