Parents question school policies after Madeline Soto’s mother said she did not know of her absence

By Megan Mellado

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    OSCEOLA COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — On the heels of Madeline Soto’s disappearance and tragic death, local parents are questioning when they would be called if their child didn’t show up to school.

On the day she went missing, Madeline Soto’s mother said she did not learn of her daughter’s absence until she went to pick her up from school at 4:30 p.m.

The body of the 13-year-old, who was first reported missing last Monday, was found in St. Cloud on Friday afternoon.

Now, one school board member wants the state to make a change. Julius Melendez says parents have been asking for information on the school district’s policy on absences.

“For every hour to us, it may seem like nothing, but to a parent who’s lost a child, every hour feels like a full day,” said Melendez, an Osceola County School Board member in District 2.

Officials with Osceola County Schools say they notify elementary school parents of absences at 10 a.m., middle school parents at 11 a.m. and high school parents at 5 p.m.

“High school students, they have a tendency to dual enroll at local colleges, they do internships. If they’re a senior and they’ve finished all their credits, they can take one or two classes and they can go home. So their schedules vary a lot more,” Melendez said.

Officials in Orange County said:

“The district considers a student absent when they miss more than half of the school day. The final cut-off for teachers to submit attendance is at 3:30 p.m. Once attendance is finalized in the system, a report is run and the message is sent to families.”

Officials in Seminole County confirmed they notify parents, but didn’t provide us with exact times, adding that the times are different due to varying start times across grade levels.

They say it’s also dependent on how many absences there are on a given day.

Volusia County says they notify elementary parents around 10 a.m., and secondary students parents around 5 or 6 p.m.

Melendez says the school districts aren’t to blame for what happened, but says a vague state statute that does not give districts a timeframe to notify parents should change.

“You know, that very first hour is when you have the highest chance of recovery and so every hour that goes past that, you’re diminishing the opportunity to be able to recover that student or recover that person, so we want to be able to do our part,” Melendez said.

WESH 2 reached out to the Kissimmee Police Department for an update on the case.

That request was declined, with KPD saying, “The work continues on the case, that is the main focus right now.”

Melendez says there is a policy in place about parents dropping students off on school property rather than somewhere nearby. He’s urging parents to follow that policy to help them better protect students.

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