In an effort to try and improve attendance at several Manatee County Elementary Schools, the district wants to make getting to class easier.

The district has identified a chronic absenteeism problem at some of the schools.

Officials say students are having a hard time making it to class because of a lack of sidewalks, crossing guards and transportation.

If a student lives less than two miles from a school, they are not eligible for a school bus stop. The district is now trying to change this.

The issues were discovered as the district continues to try and improve students’ grades at elementary schools.

This year, the district hired Graduation Enhancement Technicians to concentrate on student attendance at Title 1 schools.

Their job is to make sure students are coming to school. If they are not, it is their job to find out why. Through their research and talking to students, they discovered they have a problem.

Students who walk because they live within two miles of their schools are faced with hardships. This leads to them staying home instead of going to school.

To help, the district is trying to increase their transportation funding to add more bus stops.

“If there’s anything we can do on our end to make sure it’s safe, and conducive for students to come to school, we want to make sure that those things are in place,” said Cynthia Saunders, Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services.

The district is also working with their local governments to add more sidewalks and the sheriff’s office to add more crossing guards.

The schools being looked at for the changes are Manatee, G.D. Rogers Garden, Tillman, Ballard, Samoset, and Daughtrey Elementary Schools.

The district is hoping to make the changes by next year.