Board hears concerns about low attendance, district calls metric a lagging indicator
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Summary
A parent highlighted the district's Title I attendance figures and asked officials what the district will do to reach an 8% attendance improvement goal; administrators said the state metric cited is a lagging indicator and outlined steps to incentivize attendance and evaluate a new student information system.
Parents and board members pressed the Wyoming Area School District on student attendance during public comment and asked what the district will do to meet a stated target for improvement.
Community member and parent Vanessa Smith said she reviewed the district Title I/attendance documents and cited figures that the secondary center's attendance for the 2023–24 year was reported at 52.6% (with 42.4% for a prior year) and asked what percentage of students attended on the evacuation day. The superintendent said he would need to pull exact daily records, and cautioned that the statewide attendance figure is a lagging indicator.
"First of all, it's a lagging indicator, so it's actually a year behind," Superintendent John Pollard told the board. He explained the state's calculation: students are included in the measure after 90 days of enrollment and the metric treats a student who misses more than 10% of days in that period as chronically absent. Pollard said that to improve the measure the district needs strategies that reduce absences, noting that missing 19 school days in a 180-day year is the threshold that most affects the metric.
Smith asked whether the district was losing state or federal funding because of attendance; Pollard responded that the attendance measure cited was not directly tied to funding in the district's view. He said the district is working on an attendance plan and is exploring a new student information system that could provide better timeliness and reporting.
Board members and parents discussed incentives, stronger outreach, and use of data to identify students needing support. Pollard said the district plans to develop incentives and noted the district has multiple student-support services, including guidance staff, social workers and partnerships with regional agencies for mental-health and student-assistance services.
No formal vote on attendance policy was taken that night; administrators said they will return with a plan to the board.