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Prior Lake-Savage review: attendance codes recoded, deans point to outreach and incentives
Summary
District staff reported a K–12 refresh of attendance and behavior codes and described school-level interventions — weekly attendance teams, early outreach at five days, dean-led check-ins, PBIS incentives and targeted device restrictions — while board members flagged policy alignment and state reporting concerns.
District staff told the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools board at a study session that the district has completed a K–12 refresh of legacy attendance and behavior codes and is now working to stabilize reporting and local practices.
The presenter said the recode was necessary because older, inconsistent codes made year-over-year comparisons unreliable and that elementary attendance (AM/PM) is recorded differently than secondary attendance (per class). The recoding effort, she said, involved deans at every level to decide which codes to keep, merge or retire.
That recoding shaped board discussion about what counts as an excused or unexcused absence. A board member noted, "Back in 2022, our attendance rate was 71.3% and now it's at 79.8%," drawing attention to recent gains and prompting questions about which practices produced the change. Deans credited several steps: weekly school attendance teams, early outreach (notifications around five days absent), coordination with counselors and social workers, and targeted recognition or incentives for students who improve attendance.
Zach Hott, dean at Twin Oaks, described the administrative process for reducing "unexcused unknown" entries: "A lot of those for us are coming when families aren't communicating," and staff send automated daily attendance emails, follow-up phone calls and use cultural liaisons to reach families.
Deans also outlined in-school responses to chronic tardiness and absence: pullouts for small-group coaching, check‑in/check‑out behavior forms tailored to individual students, and time-limited restrictions on device access when misuse becomes a barrier to learning. Adam Brandell, dean at Redtail Ridge, summarized major behavior categories the schools use for reporting: "Defiance, disrespect, disruption to learning, fight/altercation, harassment, leaving the classroom or building without permission, physical aggression, severe technology violations, theft, threats, or property damage."
Board members asked about state reporting: presenter and staff clarified that Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) reporting generally captures response data tied to suspensions and expulsions and that internal response tracking (what the district does after incidents) is a separate category.
The presenter acknowledged that cleaned coding may cause an apparent increase in incidents because the district is documenting more consistently, and said the plan is to review the codes again at the end of the year rather than change them midyear.
The meeting closed this topic with an agreement to return with proposed policy or procedural changes that deans and principals recommend.
The board then moved to other agenda items.
