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Joshua ISD board approves waivers for low attendance on Feb. 19 at multiple campuses
Summary
The board approved district requests to submit waivers to the Texas Education Agency for several campuses that reported attendance more than 10% below the prior year on Feb. 19, 2025, citing extreme cold and parent decisions to keep children home.
Joshua Independent School District trustees approved district recommendations to submit low‑attendance waivers to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for multiple campuses after a cold‑weather day on Feb. 19, 2025.
Under TEA rules, districts may request that a day with average daily attendance (ADA) more than 10 percentage points below the previous year be excluded from attendance calculations for state reporting if the decline is weather, health or safety related. District presenters said the February day experienced very cold temperatures and many parents kept students home.
The board voted to approve waiver submissions for specific schools cited in the agenda documentation, including Catter Grove Elementary, Elder Elementary, Staples Elementary, Laughlin Middle School, North Joshua Elementary, Plum Creek Elementary, and the Joshua ninth‑grade campus, as listed on the agenda. New Horizons High School and Joshua High School waivers for that same date were also presented and approved.
Presenters reported the campuses’ one‑day attendance percentages for Feb. 19 ranged from roughly 73% to 82% and staff compared those figures to the prior‑year attendance baseline (94.6% quoted in the presentation). The district said waivers will be submitted to TEA for final approval.
Board members moved and seconded each waiver item and approved them in sequence. Staff noted the waivers were reviewed by the district’s out‑of‑district committee (O(?), as listed) before presentation to the board. The board did not provide additional conditions to the waiver submissions in open session.
If TEA approves each waiver, the affected day(s) will be excluded from the district’s official state attendance calculations for the specified campuses.
