Sugar Salem district credits publicity, parent outreach for high attendance

Kristen Galbraith, board chair of the Sugar Salem School District, and Jared Jenks, the district superintendent, described to the House Committee on Education on Feb. 18 a local campaign that they say has raised daily attendance and encouraged greater parent engagement.

The nut graf: Sugar Salem set a district goal of 97% daily attendance and pairs publicity, weekly tracking, and parent outreach to reduce absences and chronic absenteeism. The district also recently adopted ParentSquare to improve communications and runs a parent advisory committee to solicit input.

Galbraith told the committee that the district created posters and banners promoting the attendance goal and that principals bring weekly attendance charts to advisory meetings. "As a district, our goal has been 97% or higher attendance," Galbraith said. She described fun incentives: the superintendent visited classes dressed in a superhero costume to reward classrooms that hit the target.

Superintendent Jared Jenks said the district reviews attendance data weekly and discussed chronic absenteeism as a separate metric. "Chronic absenteeism is ... if they're absent for 10% or more of the school days in which they are enrolled," Jenks said, adding that absences count unless exempted for medical reasons. He noted that the district compares local rates to the statewide data supplied by the Idaho Department of Education and that chronic absenteeism is a focus in their Cognia accreditation work.

Committee members asked about outreach. Representative Ehart asked how the district reaches parents. Galbraith replied that Sugar Salem uses its website, a Facebook page, email, and direct contact from principals. She added the district now uses ParentSquare and a parent advisory committee that meets monthly. "ParentSquare ... tells us how many people received the message," Galbraith said, and the district plans to use survey feedback to measure improvement.

Clarifying details: the district's stated daily attendance goal is 97%; the hearing record includes Jenks's description of chronic absenteeism as missing 10% or more of enrolled days (for a 180‑day year, about 18 days). Jenks also described posting daily attendance percentages on school marquees and said the district tracks attendance and chronic absenteeism as part of its Cognia systems accreditation.

No formal committee action or vote followed this presentation; the remarks were accepted as testimony during the hearing.