Late Busses Added to Reduce Truancy in Newport Schools

The Newport School Committee provided an update on their efforts to lessen truancy in the public schools since .

Superintendent John Ambrogi announced that he had spoken to RIPTA officials, who agreed to reinstate two busses a day that will travel from the to

Students who miss the bus in the morning and are able to get to Gateway can take a 9:15 am bus to school. There will also be an 11 am bus for parents with scheduled conferences, he said.

Ambrogi also said the administration has met with Child and Family and identified about 20 families whose children have been habitually truant. Students are in first, second, and third grade.

Letters were sent home to the families, he said.

According to Ambrogi, five families will be addressed at a time as to not overwhelm the system during the pilot program. If the efforts prove successful and reduce truancy, the school system will apply for grant money to replicate it, he said.

Newport schools have sent out 121 letters to parents whose students have been truant notifying them of their student's attendance records.

School Committee Chair Patrick Kelley said the school committee has been engaging in “proactive follow up from the August summit.”