Only Action News Jax sat down with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan for exclusive details on a city-wide effort to make sure local students are going to school just as a new school year begins.
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It’s a follow-up to an Action News Jax investigation in May, where Anchor Tenikka Hughes exposed how students in Duval County are missing weeks of class . Now Mayor Deegan is responding and says conquering this crisis will be a team effort.
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Intervention through education. That’s the core of a new city-wide effort Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan will unveil Wednesday morning, focused on making sure Duval students are showing up for school.
Deegan said, “It makes me concerned that they’re not engaged enough to really become successful students. And if they can’t be successful students, then, then it’s hard for them to be successful adults.”
In May, Action News Jax investigates looked at the problem of chronic absenteeism, which is when students miss at least 10 percent of days in a school year, excused or unexcused.