ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools will no longer be able to provide excused absences in cases where parents keep students home due to increased COVID-19 cases, the district announced Wednesday.

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“Beginning January 31, we will no longer be able to provide excused absences in such cases,” the district said. “The number of cases has continued to decline, and we continue to require face masks for adults and strongly encourage them for students. It is also an additional strain on our teachers as they continue to manage assignments for large numbers of absent students.”

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State officials have not extended the quarantine code to be used to accommodate absences in the district’s attendance records, meaning students “should be considered truant for nonattendance,” the district said.

“If a parent wishes to continue keeping their child out of school, they can still enroll in Home School Education,” the district said. “You can officially enroll in Home School Education by contacting the OCPS School Choice Office.”

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