Attendance down as Philly students struggle to commute on SEPTA

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As the SEPTA bus cuts have gone into full effect, attendance has been down throughout the entire Philadelphia school district as students struggle to commute to class.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said attendance has been up and down. SEPTA’s deep service cuts took effect the day before the start of classes.

“We found a bit of a mixed bag,” he said. “There are schools that reported significant declines in first-day attendance.”

Watlington said while attendance is a key factor in student performance, remote learning is not being considered as a way to make up instructional time.

“I personally, as an educator and as a parent myself, don’t believe that virtual education is a viable option,” he said. “One of the big lessons from the pandemic was that virtual learning was not the best mode of learning for most students. There are some that do really, really well, but for most students, they need an in-person experience.”

As more people will return to work and school after Labor Day, Watlington acknowledged that the situation will only get more challenging.

“More individuals coming to school, being on the roads in Philadelphia after the Labor Day holiday, and perhaps some increases in fares — those would absolutely have the potential negative impact on student daily attendance,” he added.

On Aug. 24, 32 bus routes were eliminated and 16 were shortened. SEPTA also reduced service on 88 other routes including bus, Metro and Regional Rail lines. Although all cuts won’t take effect until Sept. 2, the base fare will increase to $2.90 starting Sept. 1.

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