Suspended Students Study in ATOSS Sites

A proposed expansion of the Alternative To Out-of-School Suspension (ATOSS) Program is on the agenda of the school district of Hillsborough County's (SDHC) first board meeting in October.

The Wilbert Davis/Belmont Heights Boys and Girls Club, just north of Ybor City, could be an additional location for suspended, out-of-school students to receive temporary instruction during the 2009/2010 school year. If approved, it would be the thirteenth location available for parents to take their suspended children, outside their normal school.

Linda Cobbe, the External Communications Manager of SDHC, was contacted about the ATOSS program. She said it is available for students under the punishment of a one to ten day suspension from school.

“Facilities are provided at no cost, by Boys and Girls Clubs and various city and county partners,” according to an official SDHC presentation on ATOSS, provided by Cobbe. The ten-year old program is staffed by school district employees during regular school hours. ATOSS was created through a partnership between SDHC, law enforcement agencies, Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the City of Tampa.

The goal of the program, described in the SDHC Student Handbook, is to prevent students from falling behind their school work while under suspension. “Students who attend and meet the requirements for ATOSS,” states the handbook, “shall not be considered absent and shall not receive any grade penalty.”

As reported in a 2003 St. Petersburg Times article, truants can be directly taken to a local ATOSS site by law enforcement officials.

In addition to the ATOSS program, SDHC provides a program for students that are further at risk of dropping out of school. The Alternative Schools Program is an existing system of three schools specifically dedicated students who have not responded well to previous in-school interventions. The enrollment is by semester, with the typical stay of a year for the average attendee, and students' re-entry into their local schools is only allowed after successful completion of the program.