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Polk County details outreach, home visits and attendance gains
Summary
Assistant Director Raulston told the board the district has expanded outreach to 14 facilitators (six bilingual), stepped up home visits and referrals and recorded early attendance gains: quarter‑1 attendance at 93.4% and a year‑over‑year improvement in district attendance metrics.
The Polk County School Board received an attendance and wraparound-services briefing on Nov. 18 that emphasized community outreach, home visits and cross-agency referrals as tools to improve student attendance.
Assistant Director of Attendance Raulston said the community-outreach team now includes 14 outreach facilitators (six bilingual) and a bilingual call-center staffer. The facilitators make calls, conduct home visits and coordinate referrals to partners such as Hazel Health and Youth & Family Advocates. "Nothing happens if the kids aren't at school," Raulston said, summarizing the program's focus.
Raulston reported outreach volume and early results: approximately 42,000 phone calls, emails and texts since program expansion; roughly 607 home visits to date this school year (up from about 259 in an earlier quarter); and a quarter‑1 attendance rate of 93.4%, the highest such quarter in five years. He said district hearings instituted as an escalation measure resulted in 30 hearings last year; 26 students removed from the list and improved attendance and four referred for parental prosecution.
The presentation described a three-part model: daily attendance intervention when students accumulate five absences in a 30‑day window; intensified truancy work at 15–90 days; and community outreach to address non-school barriers (housing instability, transportation, healthcare). Raulston outlined a new communication log to capture parent-reported reasons for absences so the district can tailor referrals and supports.
Board members praised the outreach approach. Miss Fields told Raulston, "The investment has definitely been worth it," and Miss Miller recommended continuing steps to ensure case closures and follow-up after referrals to other departments.
Next steps: Raulston and staff will continue refining documentation, expand home visits and report back with further data on interventions, referrals and measured attendance outcomes.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 1146, topfinish SEG 1567
