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Hillsborough Schools Call On Dungy To Help With Attendance

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By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

For Hillsborough County schools, making sure students are in their seats this week takes on greater importance.

So they recruited Tony Dungy to help them out.

Since Monday, the district has called up homes throughout the county with a recorded message from Dungy urging families to make sure their children are in school.

This is the time when schools count the number of students they have, and that count is factored into the money they get from the state.

It's also the time when they administer the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

With that much at stake, the school system sought some help from the coach. His message, recorded Monday, reads as follows:

"Hello,

"This is Tony Dungy calling for the Hillsborough County Public Schools to remind parents of how important it is to have your children in school.

"In football, I always looked forward to those games on Sunday. But the practices and the team meetings are just as important. That's where you learn. As a coach, I always expected my players to be there, on time, and ready to learn.

"It's the same with school. As parents we need to make sure our children are in school, on time, and ready to learn.

"It's especially important this week. This is the week that the schools take count of all the students. We want your child to be counted.

"So join me in making sure that our children are in school … on time … and ready to learn.

"Thank you."

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