Laredo Independent School District officials told the Board of Trustees on Nov. 4 that average daily attendance has improved in recent years and outlined a package of school-level and court-linked measures designed to reduce chronic absenteeism.

Eduardo Contreras, coordinator for attendance, said preliminary snapshots show year-over-year increases in ADA and that district staff recovered thousands of students after the start of the year. "We recovered more than 2,000 students, up to 19,507, which was our enrollment on Friday," Contreras said. He added that reconciliation of attendance data is ongoing and that the district's official PEIMS submissions come later in the year.

The presentation linked higher attendance rates to stronger PBIS (positive behavioral interventions and supports) practices at campuses. Staff described PBIS as a combination of training, campus teams led by assistant principals, and small incentives ("campus dollars" redeemable for items or privileges) intended to reward attendance and engagement. "There is a positive correlation with strong PBIS systems and high attendance rates," Contreras said.

Staff also described the district's truancy-prevention workflow: automated warning letters at early absence thresholds, attendance improvement plans and parent conferences, followed by referral to truancy court if interventions do not produce improvement. Contreras said the district referred 59 students to truancy court between August and October; by comparison, the district referred 139 students to court in the prior full school year. "We address it in house first, and if they exceed the 10 unexcused absences, then we refer students to truancy court," Contreras said.

Officials explained the difference between student "leavers" (students who left the district and in some cases returned to Mexico) and "movers" (students who transferred to another Texas public district). Contreras said the district's first-day attendance was 17,304 and that enrollment later rose toward about 19,507 while reconciliation continued; he said roughly 152 middle- and high-school leavers were recorded as returning to Mexico and that, of 742 students flagged for tracking, staff have located most and are still working to locate 39.

The presentation also reviewed operational details: the district's official attendance snapshot is taken during the second period (commonly 09:40 for elementary and middle schools and about 11:00 for high schools; Garcia Early College is 09:35); schools use an absence-correction form and a reconciliation window to fix coding errors; and exempt absences (for example, UIL participation, documented medical appointments and a recently added allowance for documented religious instruction of 1 hours per week) continue to be funded by the state when properly documented.

Trustees and staff discussed practical measures to support attendance officers, including in-person training for home visits, safety protocols (maintain distance at the door, avoid entering properties with unsecured animals, ask for law-enforcement accompaniment when needed) and the use of the Rahui case-management platform. Contreras described Rahui as a live, integrated tool that matches Skyward data, produces mass warning letters and helps officers triage work.

Board members raised the possibility of investing in automated camera/AI tools to locate students on campus; Trustee Juan Ramirez described an example system that can track a person across camera feeds but noted the cost would be substantial (discussion referenced figures around $1 million). Staff cautioned that not all absences are "skippers" and emphasized that phone calls, reconciliation and targeted outreach identify many students who are physically on campus but coded absent during the snapshot.

Local justice-of-the-peace officials attended and endorsed closer coordination. Justice Danny Dominguez and Justice Juan Paz emphasized courts' role and the need to involve the Webb County attorney in joint trainings. A judge on the panel cited Education Code Sec. 25.0915 and the Texas Administrative Code (minimum standards for truancy prevention measures) and urged a standard, documented approach to identifying root causes and to designing remedial orders and community-based interventions.

What changed: Trustees said they will pursue additional training and a coordinated workshop that includes the judges and county attorney; staff said they will increase hands-on training for attendance officers and continue reconciliation and data verification ahead of PEIMS submission.

Clarifying details from the presentation included: staff-reported referral counts (59 referrals Aug'Oct, 139 last school year), preliminary enrollment snapshots (first-day 17,304; later reconciled to about 19,507), and that the district has documented leaver codes and withdrawal lists in binders for audit. Staff repeatedly stressed that reconciliations and appeals processes are used to correct mistaken absences and that appeals committees, not a single administrator, review loss-of-credit or appeal decisions.

The board accepted the presentation and discussed next steps for more training, tighter procedural checklists for truancy packets and a potential broader "truancy prevention coalition" with community stakeholders and county legal partners.