Urban W. Pa. school battling 76 percent truancy

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WILKINSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An urban high school near Pittsburgh has assigned attendance duties to a district administrator who claims she's already overworked in an effort to curb the school's 76 percent habitual truancy rate.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1ew2KZN ) reports Velma Parker was the Wilkinsburg School District attendance officer for years before being reassigned to manage the district's computer system in October 2012.

Since then, the state-mandated position of attendance officer has been unfilled, and nobody has issued truancy citations to students or parents. During that time, the school's habitual truancy rate — defined as at least six unexcused absences — has increased from 57.4 percent to 76.2 percent.

The school board on Tuesday appointed Parker as attendance officer, but she says she has no time given her other computer duties, because she's also the district's homeless liaison.

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Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, http://www.post-gazette.com