District 99 makes student attendance the year’s top accountability priority

District 99 presented a strategic‑plan update to the Board of Education Wednesday and identified student attendance as the district’s single priority for the year, with a new accountability structure, daily scanning and weekly teacher reports to drive earlier interventions. "Only one thing can be a priority," a district administrator said, explaining the change in emphasis. The district reported a preliminary attendance rate of 94.47% as of Sept. 15 and said it will use multiple key performance indicators — including minutes‑based attendance, per‑period tardies, single‑period unexcused absences and contact logs — to measure progress. The district has implemented scanning at building entrances and in classrooms through Infinite Campus so staff can see who is in the building and where students are during the day; administrators said the system produces an “unaccounted for” report that prompts deans, administrators or security to find students who are not where they should be. District staff described a Monday/Thursday report sent to teachers (Monday reviews Thursday–Friday, Thursday reviews Monday–Wednesday) that lists students in a teacher’s class with contact information, absence codes and an attendance comments field. Teachers are expected to make contact with a student and family after the first single‑period unexcused absence recorded on that report; repeated issues are routed to the dean’s office. The administration reported 1,368 total tardies and 645 single‑period cuts in one sample week (a total count, not distinct students) and said staff logged 51 contact entries that week supporting regular attendance. District leaders said they will track a separate “support” metric — the percentage of students who receive documented interventions aimed at improving regular attendance — so the system shows both outcomes and whether supports were offered. Board members asked for clarity about definitions and workload. Staff said a tardy is recorded from bell time up to 9 minutes, 59 seconds; a 10‑minute or greater late arrival is marked absent for that period. For tardies, teachers are expected to contact home after the third tardy; for single‑period unexcused absences, the teacher makes the first outreach and subsequent occurrences escalate to the dean. Administrators said the district will run weekly and monthly reviews and will compare minute‑based attendance to the Illinois report card chronic absenteeism metric (students missing 10% or more of the school year). The district also plans three seasonal checks of attendance for students involved in extracurricular activities (Dec. 1, March 23 and May 23) and will produce monthly reports for department chairs summarizing teacher contacts and interventions. The superintendent’s team said the effort is an "all hands on deck" priority intended to improve academic performance and staff morale by focusing district resources on a single measurable area this year.