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Finance committee reviews Chester County attendance-incentive grant; administration to report specifics
Summary
The finance committee reviewed an attendance‑incentive grant from the Chester County Department of Children, Youth and Families that can fund targeted incentives to improve attendance for students with habitual truancy.
The Coatesville Area School District finance committee on Aug. 12 reviewed a Chester County Department of Children, Youth and Families (CYF) attendance‑incentive program that provides funds to support student attendance improvement efforts for students with habitual truancy.
Michelle Snyder, director of people services, told committee members the grant provides money to support student attendance improvement plans and is not intended for every family. She said school counselors and social workers coordinate with the county and that funds can be used to incentivize students to attend school; in prior years the district has used small gift cards (for example, Wawa cards) and other targeted incentives.
"This is a grant that we get to incentivize students... and that really is what this grant is all about," Snyder said. "It does work well and Darien usually handles all of that when he meets with the counselors and their social workers to develop the student attendance improvement plan."
Committee members pressed for additional detail on how the incentives are distributed, whether funds are limited to students connected to CYF referrals and how CYF measures success. Snyder said she would obtain specific guidance from CYF and return with clarifying information, including whether incentives are delivered as cash, gift cards or purchases, and how CYF tracks outcomes. The committee noted a program metric in the CYF materials that sets a target — for example, at least 85% of participants having no illegal absences during the quarter — and asked administration to report on program results over the school year.
Committee members moved to forward the grant approval to the full board for formal authorization; the finance committee recommended the item go to tonight’s special board meeting for approval.
The administration said it would follow up with written details about allowable incentives, whether participation is limited to students formally connected to CYF casework, and the program’s tracking and performance measures before the board’s final action.
