L train blamed for high school’s drop in attendance: Report

It sure beats “the dog ate my homework.”

A Williamsburg school that is struggling with meeting attendance goals is blaming the L train, reports said.

The New York Post first reported about the low attendance rate at Automotive High School, located at 50 Bedford Ave., and what the Department of Education is saying is the problem.

A report from the DOE cites transportation struggles for students — particularly the L train — as one reason for a drop in attendance.

In 2014 Automotive was designated a “renewal” school, giving it additional funds and expanded learning time to help improve test scores and increase attendance, according to DNAinfo. The goal this year was to boost attendance by 3 percent from February of 2015 to 2016, but it ended up dropping .1 percent to 81 percent, the report said.

The report noted teacher turnover as one reason for the attendance issue, but also stated that none of the students live within the school’s ZIP code, according to the Post. Additionally, the report said that 80 percent of students have a commute time of more than 30 minutes, and 43 percent have at least a 45-minute trip to school.

Specifically, according to DNAinfo “unusually disruptive L train issues compared to previous years,” were to blame for the attendance dip.

The already overcrowded L train is set to be shut down for 18 months starting in 2019. Those shut downs will include closing the Bedford Avenue stop near the school.