A missing boy was unenrolled from school in Baltimore. Here’s why.

Editor’s note: Tristan King was found in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood on March 13. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and is under the care of the Maryland Department of Human Services.

Nine-year-old Tristan King faced a procession of misery and mishaps before he went missing five months ago. One pivotal moment was when Baltimore school officials unenrolled him.

Banner readers responded to this fact with outrage and concern. Many have asked: How could the school system do that to a vulnerable child?

State policy allows Maryland schools to unenroll students when they miss more than 10 consecutive days of class, even though the move leaves fewer people alert to signs of trouble at home. That’s what happened to Tristan — and it’s not uncommon.

At the end of last school year, students were unenrolled by Maryland public schools nearly 12,000 times, according to data from the state education department. High school students made up nearly half of those instances.

Tristan was among 76,000 students to attend Baltimore City public schools last year, and the district unenrolled students 1,866 times. Baltimore County, a district with more than 111,000 students, had 1,963 unenrollments. The city unenrolls students at a higher rate, but the county’s unenrollments more often involve elementary and middle school students.

Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, the state’s largest school districts, each unenrolled students more than 2,000 times, whereas much smaller Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties each unenrolled fewer than 10 kids.

Unenrolling students from school may seem harsh, but districts in the past have been criticized for keeping chronically absent students on their rolls for too long.

Maryland’s inspector general for education in 2022 found nearly 1,000 instances over a five-year period of Baltimore City students who generated state funding for the district but did not meet attendance requirements. The inspector general blamed the errors on poor recordkeeping and staff confusion about whether chronically absent students should be withdrawn.

The same month Tristan was unenrolled, his grandmother and legal guardian, Donna White, had a stroke and was hospitalized. She was later moved to a nursing home in Brooklyn Park. On paper, she remained her grandson’s legal guardian, but his great-aunt Denise Day, White’s sister, became his de facto caregiver.

It’s unclear why Day did not ensure Tristan was attending school at that time.

Baltimore City Public Schools spokesperson Sherry Christian previously told The Banner she can’t comment on individual students’ records. But staff must attempt to contact families by mail, at home and over the phone to discuss barriers to attendance before withdrawal is considered, she said. She added that a manager reviews each case to ensure all efforts to contact and engage the student have been exhausted.

The district sometimes holds what Christian called a “phone-a-thon” to encourage chronically absent students to return to school. Staff who participate in the event volunteer their time on a weekend and call the families of students who haven’t been to class. A personal appeal to return can sometimes make a difference.

Schools may have a financial incentive to keep students on their rolls, but principals also face pressure to maintain a high attendance rate, a measure of success that is tracked closely by local and state education officials. Students who are chronically absent drag that average down.

Tristan was unenrolled from Sharp-Leadenhall Elementary/Middle, a 29-student school for high-needs kids.

Another spokesperson for the school district, André Riley, said Wednesday that officials crafted and implemented a personalized approach to help Tristan attend and succeed in school. He noted that Tristan’s school social worker had “seemingly daily contact” with Tristan’s family and visited his home frequently.

“Unfortunately, these steps and the work of others across the community have not yet been enough to support the young man,” Riley said.