Birmingham Community Charter High District officials told the board they have launched a stepped attendance program combining early outreach, truancy letters and individualized plans to reduce chronic absenteeism and raise average daily attendance toward a 96% goal.

School staff presented metrics and procedures at the board meeting to explain how the mid‑year attendance work is being implemented and why administrators say the approach should improve outcomes over time. "We started a school attendance review team," said Ned (staff member), summarizing steps that include weekly monitoring, calls to families and escalation to formal truancy letters.

The district described the effort as a multistep process: automatic notifications through Aeries and ParentSquare for absences; phone outreach for students absent two or more times in a week; certified truancy letters after five or six unexcused absences; individualized attendance plans for students who reach step 3; and, where needed, referrals to the school attendance review (SAR) team or alternative placement. "Our dream is to get to 96% of average daily attendance," Ned said.

Why it matters: chronic absenteeism affects state and local accountability measures and federal funding streams tied to attendance. Board members pressed staff on whether the program is cost‑effective and how much of the recent gains are attributable to the interventions versus unusual one‑off events that suppressed attendance (school lockdowns, social‑media driven absences, and a day of immigrant‑related absences cited by staff).

Key numbers and evidence presented: staff said the school currently tracks about 2,000 enrolled students and reported recent attendance data as follows: average days absent 8.4% year‑to‑date (down from a pandemic high), 2,512 students initially qualified for attendance rewards in August, and month‑by‑month reward participation declined as the year progressed. Since the attendance policy adoption in September: 812 initial truancy letters were generated (126 signed and returned), 408 second letters were sent, 28 students reached step 3, 15 SAR meetings occurred, 11 students entered SAR contracts and 7 students transferred to alternative schools for attendance reasons. Staff said as of the most recent count chronic absenteeism had declined from prior years (examples from the presentation: 2018 chronic absenteeism 16.3%; 2021–22 spike to about 27.4%; more recent measures show a decline toward 19.9%).

What staff are doing next: administrators said they are continuing weekly dashboard monitoring, home visits when required, and incentive programs (student store rewards and point systems) to reinforce daily attendance. They also emphasized that many families do not return excuse notes, which drives staff effort to clean up records and distinguish excused from unexcused absences.

Board reaction and context: Board members asked whether the workload and cost of the program are in balance with benefits; staff answered that the effort is resource intensive but necessary to prevent backsliding and that the program is designed as a systems change expected to produce stronger results over multiple years.

Ending: Staff asked the board to continue support as they refine SAR processes and attendance incentives while the school continues to track whether temporary spikes in absences (lockdowns, social media events) affect long‑term trends.