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Victoria ISD rolls out attendance playbook after year of improving ADA and reduced chronic absenteeism
Summary
District staff presented a multi-part attendance playbook and communications materials aimed at raising district attendance toward a 94% goal after reporting gains — including improved ADA and fewer chronically absent students — during the previous year.
Victoria Independent School District officials presented a new attendance playbook and parent-facing materials during a meeting that framed attendance as central to student achievement and district performance.
Dawn Maroney, who led the presentation, told trustees the district showed improved attendance across grade levels last year, including gains in average daily attendance and 500 more students meeting compulsory-attendance requirements. “If we were to look at all of those students and find a common thread to those students that showed those huge gains and that growth, you would see all of those students were present,” Maroney said.
Maroney described a three-part public-facing effort to sustain and grow the gains: a short “Showing up for excellence” pamphlet for families, an attendance playbook for campus staff that contains templates and procedures, and a districtwide commitment form that students, parents, campus staff, and district leadership will sign to create consistent expectations. The playbook includes guidance on data review, tiered interventions, home-visit safety protocols for truancy work, and community resource referrals; staff said it will be a living document updated monthly.
Data included in the materials show districtwide attendance trending upward over the last four years, chronic absenteeism trending down, and 96% of campuses showing ADA growth year over year. Maroney said the district now has an electronic attendance submission form for parents and expects clearer, consistent communication this year to help families reduce unexcused absences.
Board members asked questions about how the playbook will be implemented on different campuses; Maroney said principals will retain site-level flexibility but that district policy and communications will be consistent. She emphasized the district’s dual aim: reduce absences and increase student connection to school, saying, “we want kids here not to be counted, but to be connected.”
The materials will be distributed to campuses and families; staff said attendance data and playbook updates will be added monthly to guide campus-level interventions.
