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Bibb County presents attendance and discipline trends; launches interventions including breakthrough teams and task force referrals
Summary
The district reported a 92% average daily attendance trend, chronic absenteeism at 23.9% after the first semester, and declines in several discipline measures; staff described interventions including breakthrough teams, an evidence-based prevention program and a truancy task force that has opened 47 cases this year.
Jamie Cassidy, director in the Office of Student Affairs, presented the district’s first-semester attendance and discipline data and described current interventions.
Cassidy summarized three attendance metrics used by the district: ADA (average daily attendance), truancy rate (students with 10 or more unexcused days) and chronic absenteeism (students missing 10% or more of days). He said the district’s ADA averaged about 92% this fall, and the chronic absenteeism rate was 23.9% after the first semester. Cassidy described a district target — “50 and 5” — to reduce chronic absenteeism by 50% over five years.
On interventions, Cassidy outlined “breakthrough teams” (5–7 staff per school who call students/parents daily for a 10-week cycle), an “Oveus Fuling Prevention Program” (described as an evidence-based model; 26 schools trained with remaining schools scheduled for February 2025) and a twice-monthly truancy task force that includes attendance coordinators, the assistant solicitor general, communities and schools representatives, SROs, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, student services staff and behavioral-health partners. Cassidy reported the task force reviewed 47 cases involving 68 students this year, yielding 25 citations, 3 DFAX referrals, 2 Project AWARE referrals, 2 RISE referrals, and 13 warnings.
On discipline, Cassidy said the district saw reductions in several measures year over year: a 27% reduction in in-school suspension (ISS) days, a 12% reduction in out-of-school suspension (OSS) count and a 16% reduction in OSS days overall, with variation across levels (elementary, middle, high). He identified the top incident types as incivility, fighting and disorderly conduct and said the district is emphasizing restorative practices, Leader in Me, PBIS and other school-level supports to build positive climate.
Board members asked for clarifications about definitions, coding, how quickly teachers receive feedback after instructional rounds, interpretation of “tier” labels and cohort tracking across grades. Cassidy and other staff answered technical questions and acknowledged areas for follow-up — for example, providing year-by-year cohort tracking to explain the drop in enrollment between 9th and 12th grades and reconciling counts in truancy task force case summaries.
Cassidy said staff would provide additional breakdowns on progress for identified schools and noted the statewide nature of chronic absenteeism efforts. The committee took no formal action on this informational presentation.
