Board approves attendance-focused policy tweaks as Hawkins County renews emphasis on reducing chronic absenteeism

The Hawkins County Board of Education approved minor policy revisions intended to bolster interventions for chronic absenteeism as staff said recent months showed improved attendance.

Cody Sossman, the district’s attendance supervisor, reported April and May produced the highest daily attendance rates of the prior year and said the district plans incentive programs (a monthly attendance trophy and occasional monetary recognition at school level) and targeted interventions for students with attendance barriers. He said the goal is to provide resources and supports so "each child be successful," and that small policy tweaks will allow more collaborative and individualized approaches to addressing attendance challenges.

Board members voted to adopt the revisions noted in the meeting packet, which staff described as updating policy language and reflecting recommendations from the state and public-health rules. Specific references in the packet included policy 6.402 and 6.403 and proposed minor adjustments to policy 6-200; the board discussed the updates and approved the items during the consent/approval process.

Sossman said the district will continue incentive programs—an attendance trophy distributed monthly and spot recognitions at schools—and will return to the board later in the year with more detailed attendance metrics. No sanctions or new mandates were adopted at the meeting; the changes are framed as clarifications to allow more communication and individualized intervention planning.