Seminole County Sheriff's Office helps student with medical needs learn remotely

A truancy case in Seminole County ended up turning on a simple device: a laptop that let a student with complex medical needs keep learning from home. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office got involved after the child could not attend school in person, and with court approval a local nonprofit provided the computer so the student could move to remote instruction instead of being pushed deeper into the attendance system.

The case shows how quickly Florida’s attendance rules can escalate. State law requires schools to begin early truancy intervention after at least five unexcused absences in a calendar month or 10 unexcused absences in 90 days. Florida law also allows truancy petitions when a student has more than 15 unexcused absences in a 90-day period. Parents are responsible for their child’s attendance, and under state law the school principal or designee is supposed to contact a parent after each unexcused absence.

In Seminole County, that process can move into court oversight. Brian DeSanto was appointed as the county’s dependency and truancy general magistrate effective January 30, 2023, giving the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida a dedicated court officer to handle cases where attendance problems overlap with family and child welfare concerns. In this case, the outcome was not punishment but accommodation: remote learning for a medically fragile student who could not safely be in a regular classroom.

The sheriff’s office says its juvenile intervention specialists work with at-risk youth and families to identify needs and connect them with schools, providers and other services. The agency says those programs are meant for families struggling with behavioral issues at home or school, but the same network can also help when a child’s medical condition creates an attendance problem that a traditional truancy response does not fit.

Families facing similar pressure can press for help before a case reaches law enforcement or the court. Seminole County Public Schools points families to student support services for children with special health care needs, a reminder that some students may need accommodations, alternative instruction or medical support rather than a standard attendance plan. The sheriff’s Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3), says it exists to support the county’s underserved and at-risk populations through education, prevention and resources. In cases like this one, the difference between a court appearance and a workable solution can come down to whether the school, the family and support agencies move quickly enough to document the child’s medical needs and build a plan around them.