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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Cumberland County Schools are cracking down on students who are chronically tardy.
Multiple media outlets report that the district has assigned a Fayetteville police officer and a community liaison to make daily visits to the students' homes as part of a campaign called "Every Minute Counts."
Officer Kendra Faire and Mark Rowden visit at least eight Cumberland County homes every day to track down parents of students who are habitually late for class.
Rowden, a pastor and community activist, said he can and will report the parents of chronically tardy children to the Department of Social Services for educational neglect.
Superintendent Frank Till Jr. says the system's elementary schools averaged 800 tardy students per day last year. That number had dropped to just under 600 this year since the campaign launched.
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