College may seem a long way off for a kindergarten student, but a new program is rewarding young learners who go to class with college scholarships.
Hillsborough County Public Schools is partnering with Florida Prepaid to encourage kindergarteners to have good attendance.
Kindergarteners who attend class on 90% of the school days between February 17 and May 2 will be eligible for a random drawing for $1,000 scholarships.
District Supervisor of Early Learning Lisa Haynes said this should encourage families and students to get into the habit of going to school every day.
“This is a new collaboration between Hillsborough County Public Schools and Florida Prepaid to incentivize our kindergarten students to come to school because attendance correlates highly with academic achievement,” she said
Each elementary school principal will randomly select students from the qualifying group for these scholarships.
Additionally, all qualifying students will receive $100 toward their Florida Prepaid account.
The initiative aims to cut down on chronic absenteeism, which is defined as missing more than 10% of the school year – that’s equal to two days per month. That includes excused and unexcused absences and suspensions.
Chronically absent students are 25% less likely to attend college, according to the county.
"You're really setting the foundation for attending for the rest of your school career,” Haynes said.
Haynes added that she is hoping to continue the partnership into future semesters.
She also said she is not concerned about parents sending their sick child to class just to get the scholarship because schools offer guidelines on when to keep students home. She added that the scholarship also does not require perfect attendance to allow for those necessary absences.
Parents can track their child’s absences on Hillsborough County Public Schools’ website.
