College Park offers utility bill discount to boost school attendance, combat teacher shortages

Pay to go to school? College Park's program

In an effort to combat overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, the City of College Park is offering a new incentive to encourage families to send their children to school on time — a 15% discount on August utility bills.

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - In an effort to combat overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, the City of College Park is offering a new incentive to encourage families to send their children to school on time — a 15% discount on August utility bills.

What we know:

The discount applies to city residents whose children attend school during the first week, beginning August 4. Officials hope the offer will help boost attendance during a critical period that determines staffing levels for the year.

City leaders say when students miss the first week, enrollment numbers appear lower than actual attendance, resulting in fewer teachers being allocated by Fulton County Schools.

The issue is especially pressing at College Park Elementary, where the satisfactory attendance rate for the school year hovers around 70%. According to Carn, the city allocated between $20,000 and $25,000 for the incentive, but that investment could save hundreds of thousands in state funding tied to teacher allotments.

What they're saying:

"Last year we found out College Park Elementary lost two teachers because they were short about 60 students who did not show up," said College Park City Councilman Joe Carn. "It was a unanimous vote."

"For what we are going to get as a benefit — just two teachers was $200,000 in funding that they lost," Carn said.

Latoya Paul, a College Park resident, said she plans to take full advantage of the incentive. Her daughter, Naliya, is registered and ready for her first day of kindergarten at College Park Elementary.

"Did you even know about this discount? No. What did you think when you heard? Too good to be true," Paul said.

She added the savings couldn’t come at a better time. "I’ve been running my A/C all summer."

Fulton County Schools Zone 1 Superintendent Cherissee Campbell said there is a clear link between attendance and performance.

"A third of the students are reading at grade level and we find a third of the students have satisfactory attendance. There’s some correlation there," she said.

Campbell noted that chronic absenteeism is not limited to College Park, and said the district often hears from parents after the fact.

"Sometimes we have families who say, ‘Oh, I did not know the first day of school is August 4 and Johnny is with his grandma,’" she said.

What's next:

With her daughter prepped and ready, Paul said she’ll make sure Naliya is in her seat on time — and she’ll be first in line to claim her utility discount.