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Pasco school board proclaims September as Attendance Awareness Month
Summary
Pasco County School Board adopted a resolution recognizing September as Attendance Awareness Month after a presentation on new universal attendance procedures and resources for parents and staff.
The Pasco County School Board on Aug. 2025 adopted a proclamation recognizing September as Attendance Awareness Month, citing district efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and new tools to help families and staff report and respond to student absences.
Michelle Hudson of the Office of Student Support Programs and Services told the board the district has implemented a universal attendance procedure and launched resources including a OneNote toolkit for staff and an Attend and Achieve website for parents. "We have incorporated tiered early intervention strategies that allows for guidance," Hudson said, adding that the district had received 4,249 parent-submitted absence reports during the first week of school and that the majority had been processed.
The resolution, read into the record by Board Member Hernandez, states that chronic absence—defined in the proclamation as missing 10 percent or more of school for any reason—predicts academic decline and that the district will "commit to focusing on reducing chronic absences and to give all children an equitable opportunity to learn and grow." Hernandez moved to adopt the proclamation; Harding seconded the motion and the board approved it by voice vote.
Why it matters: School officials told the board that earlier and more consistent attendance improves instructional time and is linked to graduation. The district emphasized both outreach to families (a parent manual, monthly communications and a directory of community supports) and internal changes (weekly attendance-data review routines for student services teams) as the principal levers to reduce absences.
Board and staff comments highlighted next steps and monitoring. Hudson said the district will continue to "work through those kinks and support those schools and those parents that still reach out with questions," and officials said they will track attendance counts at standard reporting milestones (10- and 20-day counts) to measure progress.
Votes at a glance - Proclamation recognizing September as Attendance Awareness Month: motion by Hernandez, second by Harding; outcome: adopted (voice vote). The proclamation text declares the district will collaborate to reduce chronic absence and names September as Attendance Awareness Month. - Consent agenda: motion carried (mover Hernandez, seconder Wright); outcome: approved (voice vote). - Item 9.2 (Opportunity Schools plan approval): motion by Harding, second by Beaudoin; outcome: approved (voice vote). - Item 9.3 (Assessment calendar approval): motion by Beaudoin, second by Harding; outcome: approved (voice vote).
Board members and staff described the proclamation as part of a broader set of operational actions to support attendance, including transportation fixes and parent communications. The board did not provide a roll-call tally in the public discussion; votes were recorded as "Aye" and the chair announced "Motion carries."
