Caddo Parish School Board hears plan to cut absenteeism, address extreme behavior and revise SPED placements

Caddo Parish School Board Superintendent Keith Burton on Tuesday presented a multi-part plan to reduce chronic absenteeism, curb extreme student behavior and narrow achievement gaps for students with disabilities.

Burton told the board the plan will reassign existing central-office and program staff into school-based roles, strengthen partnerships with community agencies and law enforcement, and “get to the root cause” of why students miss school or act out rather than rely only on punitive responses. He said the district will not add new staff or vendors immediately but will realign current personnel and budgets.

The presentation said the strategy includes: a full review (“scrub”) of the district’s absenteeism and tardiness policies to align with state law; designation of school-based staff to focus on attendance; closer coordination with existing community partners (TASK/VOA, juvenile court, law enforcement and others); targeted reassignment of Title I, McKinney-Vento and special-education staff to higher-need schools; placing behavior interventionists on single campuses rather than itinerant schedules; and resetting Positive Behavioral…